Happy Mothers' Day!

Prayer of Mothers

Father in heaven,

grant me the grace to appreciate the dignity

which you have conferred on me.

Let me realize that not even the Angels

have been blessed with such a priviledge -

to share in your creative miracle

and bring new Saints to heaven.
Make me a good mother to all my children

after the example of Mary,the Mother of your Son.

Through the intercession of Jesus and Mary

I ask your continued blessings on my family.

Let us all be dedicated to your service on earth

and attain the eternal happiness of your kingdom in heaven.

Amen.

Today we pray for:
those who are grieving the loss of their mother,
those who never knew their biological mother, and now yearn for her
those who have experienced the wonder of an adopted mother's love
the families separated by war or conflict

mothers of children with special needs

mothers who must raise their children alone

mothers who suffer illness

and mothers who nurse sick children or family members.

Lord, please send them special blessings.

And our special greetings and fond rememberances to all the mothers we know!

Early Morning Visit

I was wakened at about 5:30 this morning to what sounded like a squeaky toy being stepped on. "Those durn dogs," I thought, "playing with their toy in the yard -- right by my window." But then I remembered we'd put the dogs in the pen last night before we went to the Rockies game, so... hmmm.... Well, maybe I'd imagined it. So I snuggled down to try to get back to sleep. But, then I heard it again. It sounded more like a crow now, though, a big crow. But, we've never seen crows here ~ a few starlings and the occasional blackbird, but never a crow. Strange...

I threw on my robe and slippers and went out in the half-light to have a look around. I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary at first. The songbirds were awake and starting to make a racket, but the chickens were sleeping in; not a one was out in the chicken yard, so the weird noise hadn't been one of them. I strolled around the perimeter of the garden fence looking out into the front ten pasture and didn't see a thing, so headed back to the house. It must have been my imagination. Maybe I was dreaming.

Nice morning, though. A little chilly, but the sun was just peeking over the eastern rim of the prairie, lighting up the yard a bit. I was just thinking that it'd probably warm up a bit and would be a good day to do some yardwork, when I noticed something hanging out of the tree by the baby swing. What the heck?

It was long and strangely fuzzy. I thought for a minute it was my eyes going fuzzy on me, until I looked up into the tree and saw what the long fuzzy thing was connected to...

You see it? This vagabond peacock perched on the treebranch for a while...

( Here he is in brighter daylight)

Then he flew over to the roof. Here he is walking across our roof.

I watched him for a while, wondering if I should go wake up the children. I did wake up Dan so he could have a look. But, I didn't have the heart to wake up the kids. It goes against every motherly instinct in me to do such a thing, ya know... The children would only come out and make a racket and scare him away, anyway. And, I had pictures. So, after a while, I went in and went back to bed. When I came back out about an hour later he was nowhere to be found. I wonder where he came from and where he went? I don't expect I'll ever know.

But it's a good thing I had my trusty camera on hand. The kids would never have believed me if I didn't have these pictures.

Quick Takes

1. The left shift key on my keyboard is not working and it's driving me nuts. In order to make a captial I, I have to change thirty years of habit ~ and my whole brain function to hit the right shift key with my right pinky, while simultaneously hitting the I with my right middle finger. Ack. It doesn't sound like a big thing, but it's just annoying enough to make me throw my hands in the air and quit typing. Particularly since I've had a headache the last few days (the remnants of a minor virus). And a dull headache is a lot like a broken left shift key. Not enough to keep me from getting things done, but enough to make. me. really. testy. Especially if it's paired up with a broken shift key. (Sorry, folks. It's not all about me; it's all about I...)

2. Because I've had this pesky headache, and have been feeling just under the weather, I haven't been getting many check marks on my to-do list this week. I haven't re-washed the winter coats, and I haven't gotten organized enough to get our garden markers started, but we have done a lot of work on the garden, particularly the perennial beds ~ where we dug out our Mary-garden plot. But, that's been all we've accomplished toward honoring Our Lady so far this first week of May. Which makes me sad.

I haven't been on the ball enough to get much more than that done. I haven't even properly posted in honor of Our Lady yet! (It's the left shift key in my brain, I'm tellin ya'...) Our shrine to the Blessed Mother is still full of flowers and decorations from Easter, but we haven't added to it, as I would have liked, and instead of a new crown for May, Our Blessed Mother still has the old one on. =sigh= But, maybe I can still catch up? I do hope to post on some of the lesser-known apparitions of Our Lady as the month progresses, and I'm hoping to work on both our indoor and outdoor shrine, too, as we go along.

3. Which leads me to the subject of something we've almost accomplished this week. We're this close to ordering the statue for our outdoor shrine. The problem is that we can't choose between the two pictured at the left. The one on top is of Our Lady of Grace, and is about two feet tall; the one on bottom is just entitled Praying Mary, and is about three feet tall. The smaller statue is half the price of the taller one, but everyone prefers the taller one.

Don't ya hate that? I'd hate to get the smaller one and always regret that we didn't kick in for the one we really wanted... Over several years, we've saved up our loose coins in a coffee can under the computer. The rule has been that any "found" change, without legitmate claim was Our Lady's money: it goes in the can. In this way, we've saved almost $200 ~ which is more than we need for the smaller statue, and not enough for the larger. And though we all like the larger statue, I'm not sure I can justify adding money to the till for it, with so many other expenses piling up around here. Bother. I think we're going to have to put this in the Blessed Mother's hands and see what she wants us to do.

4. Speaking of expenses...

One thing we did accomplish this week: we got our new goats, thanks to Dan and Kevvy!

Getting them home was a trick, though. Since we (stupidly) sold our horse trailer when we moved a few years ago, we had to tote the goats home in the back of the truck. Regardless of the short tethers tied to the truck bed, though, the goats were determined (as only a goat can be) to jump into traffic, so Kevvy had to hold them by their collars, with his arm out the back window of the truck the whole long way home. The stinkers. Good thing Kevvy is such a good sport ~ and has such strong arms! Anyway, here they are, safe and sound.

Meet "Sweety" (top, with Gabe) and "Tim" (bottom, with William). Sweety is a registered Nubian doe and Tim is an Alpine-mix wether (a how-shall-we-say-- fixed male). We'll breed Sweety this fall to be in milk come early spring of next year. And Tim's basic purpose is to be Sweety's sidekick and entertain the children. He's a "kisser" ~ meaning he'll lick the kids' faces if they get close enough to him. Fun, fun if you're a kid. (But, I personally keep my face far away from Tim.)

5. Since I've been outdoors in the garden and working with the animals a lot the last couple of weeks, I've gotten the start of a good farmer's tan. And a farmer's tan works just fine for me ~ all I need tanned is my face, my arms below my short sleeves, and, please Sister Sun, the tops of my feet and the bottoms of my calves. Why is it that my arms will easily bronze to a Mowgli-the-Jungle-Boy, brown, but the bottoms of my legs which have been sticking out of the bottoms of my capris for the same time that my arms have been sticking out of my sleeves end up blindingly white? All I want is to wear sandles and a skirt without having to deal with panty hose. Or have my legs flashing like white beacons as I walk.

My son, Kevin, and my daughter, Theresa, walk outside the first day of spring, and they are instantly 100% tan ~ and they stay that way the whole summer. Makes me sick. Some kind of genetic pigmentation mutation they must have gotten from their father's side of the family. But, I don't really want or need that. All I want is mildly tanned calves and feet. That's not asking much, is it?

Yes, I know. Silly, isn't it? (Am I the only one who has this problem?)

6. Pesky tanning issues notwithstanding, the change of the seasons holds so many good things to look forward to. For instance, now that the weather is warming up and the mint is sprouting, our thoughts turn to our favorite cold drink:

Blueberry, Pineapple Smoothie

2 cups frozen blueberries (or raspberry and blueberries, mixed), slightly thawed

1 cup chilled pineapple juice

1 - 2 tablespoons honey

5-10 mint leaves

1 8-ounce carton vanilla nonfat yogurt (optional)

app. 4 oz vodka (optional for the adult, end-of-the-week, might-as-well-live-it-up version)

Dump it all in the blender, and blend until smooth. Garnish with mint leaves. Yum!

* I know, it seems like a strange mix of flavors, doesn't it? But it's a healthful antioxidant and is really refreshing ~ with or without the alcohol.

7. It's also that time of year, when little boys do little boy things. They feed weeds to the goats, they chase the chickens, they swing on the swings, they play in the dirt, they climb trees and scale fences... This is the first time I saw William climb a fence, and though he was supremely confident and really very adept, I had to wince as I watched. Do you see him there in photos four and five? We have such busy Guardian Angels around here!

Little Farmboy Fence Climbing 101

It's easy, Mommy.

** For more Quick Takes, run over and visit Jennifer at Conversion Diary.

Just in case anyone wondered...

If you're a glutton for punishment, you can go here for some more very depressing visuals about how much sugar is in the food we eat.

Had to share...

Flower-dog bouquets!

Aren't these just the cutest?

* From Crooked Brains, by Granny Geek, via a Stumbled Upon recommendation...

You've just gotta love this...

If this doesn't make you smile, nothing will!

H/T: Jimminy, I'm not sure where I saw this! When zipping over to u-tube to pick it up to share, I lost track of where I started out. Please forgive me, whoever it was that found this first. I'm glad you shared it; we loved it!

A question of concern...

...has been whether the high birthrate of Muslim countries will eventually result in the eclipse of the Judeo/Christian world by virtue of sheer numbers alone. Will it happen? Well, these numbers say it's not as likely as we would have thought. Nice sometimes to have a glimmer of good news.

Little girls make fairy houses.

This is what little boys make:



I'm thinking there's a story going on here having something to do with the doll house furniture and the mini 'Nilla Wafers arranged up on the top...

Simple Woman's Daybook, May 4th

What I've been thinking... Had a wonderful, busy weekend, and I have so much to do in the next couple of weeks, my head is spinning! I'm thinking: Oh, my gosh, I've got to get organized!

I am hearing... Catherine negotiating with Gabriel over what she's willing to fix him for breakfast.

I am reading... The Endless Knot, by William L. Biersach (Totally fun mystery for the trad set!), and The Saints and Our Children, by Mary Reed Newland (I highly recommend this one!)

I am hoping... My silly peas will come up before it's too late! And that the goats we're getting this week don't find holes in the fence that we missed and find the peas when they do come up.

What I'm wearing... Green sweater over a white tee, blue jeans and sneakers ~ working clothes... just got back from getting some lumber for new fences.

From the Learning Rooms... We've finished all our consumables and our math texts for the year and are concentrating on real life learning in the garden and barn.

From the kitchen... just made a double batch of granola that was gone in two days. We like granola too much around here. I'm trying to decide if it's worth the money it takes to have it inhaled on a regular basis, or if I should make it a treat twice a month or so... (I'm thinking that's what I'm gonna do.)

I am creating... garden stakes for all the different sections of the garden (more on that later this week probably...), and we're making strides towards our Mary Garden: hoping to get our statue this week!

I 'm thankful for...
* A thoughtful husband who took me out yesterday to celebrate our anniversary and who has planned a four-day getaway for us at the end of the month to celebrate it some more...
* Long, soaky rains followed by sunny days...
* Children old enough to construct fences for me, children young enough to enjoy shooing the chickens out of the way while their big brother and sister construct fences...
* Chickens that lay an egg a day...
* The new wisk I got to make scrambled eggs...

Around the house... just washed all the winter coats last week, and was ready to pack them up and put them away for the summer, until... We went to Kevvy's football game in Loveland, CO on Saturday, and, thankfully, we brought along the newly-cleaned winter coats, because it was damp, cold, and windy.... and the children spent the whole afternoon rolling down the hill nearby... So, of course, you know what I have to do all over again.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...
(It's a good exercise for both my organization and my accountability, writing this out!)

We need to:

*Finish cleaning the barn and checking all the fences for the Nubian doe and her pal, a mixed breed whether goat we're bringing home on Tuesday.
* Buy hay
*Make our garden markers
* Work on our Mary garden, hopefully get our statue
* Fix the bolt on the garden gate and put a spring on it so that it will always shut regardless of what toddler or teen-in-a-hurry goes through (because the dogs think my garden beds are just, oh-so-comfy to sleep on...)
* Start gearing up for the big trip to Omaha for son, Jon's, graduation, a week from this coming Saturday
*Find something special for my Mom and my Mom-in-Law for Mother's Day

One of my favorite things... William's soft little three-year old cheek nuzzling up next to mine

Here is a picture thought I'm sharing...

Can you help me with a caption for this one?

** Make sure and run over to Simple Woman's Daybook for a visit with lots of kindred spirits!

The first time I saw him...

...his back was to me.

He was leaning over the sports desk at our college paper, cleaning out the debris of the recently-fired sports editor. My friend, Leslie, and I had found a strategic spot after we heard he'd come in, and were peering at him, one at a time through the crack behind the production room door. It's not like we thought of him as "fresh meat" exactly (regardless of what the photography staff kept saying). It's just that we were interested. He was the new sports editor, and the layout and production staff would be working closely with him on his section. It was our business to see how he measured up. And from what we could tell, he measured up pretty well.

He was wearing blue jeans and a black jacket, in style but conservative. He had broad shoulders and almost military-cut brown hair. He didn't have the look of a fraternity boy, which suited us both just fine: fraternity boys never took the paper seriously. And they were incredible snobs. We decided he didn't look like the party-animal sort (if you could tell by his back), but he wasn't a geek, either. He did look serious, though. At least he seemed determined to not turn toward where we knew he knew we were hiding behind the door. (There was no way he didn't hear us giggling and whispering.) And, even when we made some excuse to come out from hiding and walk through the editors' office, he didn't turn around to greet us ~ or even look at us. He wasn't even curious! (Indeed!)

But we were. We had to get a look at his face or it was just going to kill us! So we meandered up front and loitered around the receptionist's desk, figuring that he had to eventually pass by there to get out of the building. And he did pass by, (in a rush, I think to escape us) just as our editor-in-chief came in. She said something to him, and he turned around at the door and smiled. Oh my! What straight, white teeth he had. And soft brown eyes.

A nice, honest face.

Almost right away, I looked for that face whenever I came to the office. Leslie thought he was nice, but a little dull for her, which was cool by me, because I didn't want the competition. I was interested in this new sports editor, and wanted to know more about him. He was so mysterious. He hardly ever talked to the rest of the staff; he didn't join us around the Coke machine or play along with the pica-ruler swordfights. All he ever did was work! Sheesh. But his presence in the office brought a sense of calm and order. He was distant, but polite, and he got the work done. And he put out the best sports section our paper had seen in a long time. He was always on time with his copy, and he even typeset it himself. He was the perfect co-worker. But frustrating. Gah! How could you get to know a guy who wouldn't talk to you except to explain how he wanted his box-scores arranged?

But, I did get to know him pretty well. We worked together for a year, putting a paper out twice a week, and during that time I learned that he was: A) consistent, B) trustworthy, C) hard-working D) incredibly smart, E) politically conservative (bless him), F) naturally kind, G) quietly self confident, but, H) very busy and pointedly reserved.

Ah, well. I kept trying. I showed up whenever I thought he'd be there, worked hard on his sports section, and tried hard not to put his swimmer photos in upside down... And he remained cordial, verging on friendly, but nothing else.

By the end of our first year working together, the paper hired a new staff member, a young man who worked with me to produce the paper. (This was before computer pagination; we laid the whole newspaper out by hand on light tables in those days ~ the dark ages of newspaper production...) The new guy's name was Eddy, and he was smart, artistic, and full of life ~ so fun and sociable. He and I got to be pretty good friends rubbing elbows at the light tables, and I knew he liked me. With Eddy it was hard to miss. And I liked him; how could I not? I had never lost interest, mind you, in my serious-minded sports editor, but a girl can only wait so long for a little encouragement, ya know? And, in this situation, Eddie was the bird in the hand, while the bird in the bush was too busy typing up hockey stories to notice me. My heart still skipped a beat whenever he came into the room, but it seemed pretty obvious that he wasn't interested in me. Or at least that's what I thought.

One night, we were burning the midnight oil to get a paper out, and I needed to go across campus to get some paperwork or something. I had no car, so had to walk, and it was way late, so I hollared out for a volunteer to please "escort me through yon dragon-ridden forest." ( Or something like that...) But, everyone was too busy to come with me, and it was late, and they were tired, so, alas, I headed out into the darkness alone. =sigh=

But, all was not lost...

I had just gotten to the edge of the campus gardens when I heard a door slam, and then the sound of running feet, and there through the dark came Eddy to my rescue. "I'll come with you, Lisa!" he called. Then, another slam, and more running feet, and who should appear, but my sports editor, Dan! (Can you imagine my shock?) "No, I'm going with her," he said. And both running toward me, they wound up practically under my nose (Dan was faster by a good few strides), almost colliding with each other and with me!

Eddy took my arm, said something to the effect of, "You snooze, you lose, Dan." And I don't know what Dan said, but he grabbed me around the waist, hoisted me over his shoulder, and ran into the garden.

And, Eddy, instead of chasing, watched us go. I watched him as he watched us. He knew Dan had won.

And so he had.

Or, rather, I had.
All these years later, my husband is still a man of surprises.

And I love him with all my heart.

Happy Anniversary, Dan.

I can't believe it's been 22 years; it seems like just yesterday.

Feast of St. Joseph the Worker

This special feast of St. Joseph was instituted by Pope Piux XII in 1955 as an answer to the Communist celebration, May Day, held on May 1st. This was Holy Mother Church's antidote for a modern day pagan feast, as All Saints' Day, for instance had replaced the Celtic Samhein festival over a thousand years ago.

Today is a day to end or begin a novena to St. Joseph, also the patron of fathers and patron of the Universal Church.

Here is a prayer I found that I had never seen before:

Prayer for Workers

O glorious Joseph! Who concealed your incomparable and regal dignity of custodian of Jesus and of the Virgin Mary under the humble appearance of a craftsman and provided for them with your work, protect with loving power your sons, especially entrusted to you.

You know their anxieties and sufferings, because you yourself experienced them at the side of Jesus and of His Mother. Do not allow them, oppressed by so many worries, to forget the purpose for which they were created by God. Do not allow the seeds of distrust to take hold of their immortal souls. Remind all the workers that in the fields, in factories, in mines, and in scientific laboratories, they are not working, rejoicing, or suffering alone, but at their side is Jesus, with Mary, His Mother and ours, to sustain them, to dry the sweat of their brow, giving value to their toil. Teach them to turn work into a very high instrument of sanctification as you did. Amen.

~ written by Pope John XXIII
(The pope my Dad had an audience with when he was a sailor in the late fifties, early sixties)

Some fun things to do on this feast day:

Saint Joseph's rice fritters

Frittelle Di San Giusepe

2 1/4 cups milk
1 cup raw rice
Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons fruit brandy (optional)
Grated rind of 1 large orange
3 tablespoons golden raisins
3 tablespoons pine nuts
Oil for deep frying
Confectioners' sugar

Bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan.

Add the rice, salt, vanilla, and granulated sugar.

Cover the pan, and simmer gently until the rice is fully cool.)

Mix the rice thoroughly with the eggs, flour, baking powder, brandy, orange rind, raisins, and pine nuts.

Heat the oil to 375° F. for deep-fat frying. Drop the Frittelle mixture 1 tablespoon at a time into the oil. Cook a few at a time, keeping the Frittelle separate. Fry until golden brown.

Drain the Frittelle on paper towels. Serve them hot, sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.

~ From Women for Faith and Family

* Make sure and run over to Catholic Cuisine to check out the awesome gingerbread toolbox recipe and tutorial to make in honor of St. Joseph! Awesome, awesome job done by Eileen and children on this...

* Catholic Cuisine also has posted a scrumptious looking recipe for St. Joseph's Raspberry Cream Cupcakes. Yum!

* Charlotte has a beautiful coloring page for today, too!

* Today is a good day to hunt out spring flowers to deck out a special shrine for St. Joseph. We'll place our statue of St. Joseph in the middle of our dining room table so he's at center stage today, and if our lilacs haven't bloomed yet, well... we do have plenty of dandilions. I have a feeling St. Joseph would love dandilions from the children's hands.

~ Woops! Please forgive me; I first wrote that it was Pope St. Pius X who instituted the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. Wrong Pope Pius! Just had him on the brain, I think... He wasn't around in 1955, of course.

Worried About Swine Flu?

For clear and objective information, check out this article.

H/T: My Aussie friend, CC. (Thanks, Cecilia, this is just the info I needed to see!)

Are there such things as coincidences?

I was looking for a picture of a ring that answered the description of the one Our Lord gave to St. Catherine, and this was the closest I could find:
This is the ring Gabriel found out in the dirt today. None of us has ever seen it before.

Cool, huh? Gives us a prop to discuss the day's feast, anyway...

The Ring

We have what we can call ordinary and extraordinary saints that make up the ranks of the Church Triumphant. The ordinary ones are the ones we can identify with, the ones that seemed to share our plight on earth, yet rise above it in holy but "earthbound" ways. These are the wonderful, somehow comforting saints not known for their miracles ~ saints like St. Maria Goretti , St. Francis de Sales, and St. Therese of Lisieux.

Then there are the extraordinary saints, ones that rise above the earthly in magnificent ways. Their examples go beyond piety to raise our minds to heaven; we see the power of God through them. These are the amazing saints known for their miracles, saints like St. Joseph of Cupertino, St. Martin dePorres, and St. Catherine of Siena .


Today is the feast day of St. Catherine of Siena, definitely an extraordinary saint.

She is one of the great and most unique souls celebrated by the Church: a Third Order Dominican, a writer of superb merit, a hermit, a mystic, a stigmatist, a civil and religious reformer, an incorruptible after her death, a saint known for wonders and miracles... The amazing story of her life is the stuff of legends. But the thing I always remember about St. Catherine of Siena is the ring.

You might remember that St. Catherine is one of the saints most highly favored in that she was one of the few who shared a mystic espousal to Our Lord ~ and when Our Lord took her for His bride, he gave her a beautiful ring.

Blessed Raymond of Capua, her confessor, documented that on the day of the espousal, St. Catherine was abstaining from the pre-Lenten feasting going on around her and was alone in her room "seeking through prayer and fasting the face of her eternal Bridegroom" when Our Lord appeared and said:

"Since for love of Me you have forsaken vanities and despised the pleasure of the flesh and fastened all the delights of your heart on Me, now, when the rest of the household are feasting and enjoying themselves, I have determined to celebrate the wedding feast of your soul and to espouse you to Me in faith as I promised."

Before He had finished speaking, His most glorious Virgin Mother appeared with the most blessed St. John the Evangelist, the glorious Apostle Paul, St. Dominic, the founder of the order, and the prophet David with his harp. While David played sweet strains on the harp, the Mother of God tood Catherine's hand in her own most holy hand and, presenting her to her Son, courteously asked Him to marry her to Himself in faith. The Son of God, graciously agreeing, held out a gold ring with four pearls set in a circle and a wonderful diamond in the middle, and with His most holy right hand He slipped it onto the virgin's second finger saying, "There! I marry you to Me in faith, to Me, your Creator and Saviour. Keep this faith unspotted until you come to Me in Heaven and celebrate the marriage that has no end."

OK, what do you say? Imagine being given away by the Blessed Mother, while King St. David plays the harp and St. Dominic and St. John look on. Picture Our Lady holding St. Catherine's hand, as Our Lord gently slips the ring on St. Catherine's finger. Wow.

The whole scene is unbelievably beautiful and miraculous, but, most touching to me, and most memorable (maybe because I'm just a very visual person) is St. Catherine's memento of the event ~ her wedding ring. Blessed Raymond tells us that, though the ring was invisible to everyone else, St. Catherine could always see it. What an an amazing, very personal reminder of Christ's love for her!

What an amazing reminder for us, too, though. In the ceremony of this mystical marriage, we see how much value Our Lord placed in the complete sacrifice St. Catherine made of her soul to Him, but we also get to see His complete understanding and sympathy for our earthly sensibilities. Our Lord surely didn't need to give St. Catherine a ring; she would have appreciated and understood their espousal without it. But Christ understands our human hearts. He knows how to touch us, and He knows how important visual symbols are for us. And a woman who has just been married really needs a wedding ring.

The wisdom of the Church, His wisdom, has always understood the power of symbols. This is part of the power and instruction of the liturgy and the sacraments, their value to us in their visual meaning. I love how the color of the vestments is an immediate hint about the feast or season, for instance. If you walk into church and see purple vestments, you think: penitential; if you walk in and the vestments are white, you think: must be a feast of Our Lady today! We can think of a sacrament and come up with an immediate image to go with it: Baptism - water, Holy Communion - Bread and Wine; Matrimony - a ring, and so forth...

But, I especailly love the symbolism of wedding rings.

* They are very often gold, because it is a precious metal valued for its purity and rareness in the symbolism of the Church. Did you know that the cup of all chalices used in holy Mass must be made of either gold or silver, but that the interior of the cup must be gold ? So gold has an association with gravity and sanctity. A golden wedding ring was also a promise of a new son-in-law to a loving father that he had the means to provide for his new wife.

* Another important symbol of a ring is its shape, a circle, the universal symbol for eternity.

* A wedding ring came to be worn on the third finger of the left hand to recognize the vena amori or vein of love, which was traditionally believed to have a direct path from the third finger to the heart, thus signifying a connection between life and love.

* Another old tradition connects the third finger with the Blessed Trinity. In medievel England, the bridegroom would slip the ring on each finger during the wedding ceremony, saying: In the name of the Father (on the index finger), the Son (on the middle finger), and the Holy Ghost (landing on the ring finger).

I think any faithful woman would agree that her wedding ring makes a circuit between herself, her husband, and God ~ a circle that passes through her heart. Christ understood the human importance of the symbol when He slipped the ring on St. Catherine's finger, and it was important to Him because He loved St. Catherine.

I look at my wedding ring when I think of St. Catherine and remember this all encompassing love: me for my husband, him for me, and God's love for us both. It's all right there. My wedding ring is not mystical in itself, but its meaning is. My calling is not as extraordinary as St. Catherine's, but it's just as important in God's scheme. And though I've not come remotely close to perfecting my love for Christ as St. Catherine did, He loves me just as He loves her. And His plan for me is all in the ring.

In my station, it's all about unity in marriage and commitment to the duties of wife and mother. And it's all wound up with saving souls ~ maybe on a small scale compared to St. Catherine, whose life affected thousands ~ but it's all of eternal importance, just the same.

For St. Catherine of Siena, the ring said it all, and it does for me, too.

St. Catherine, pray for us!

Saints With and From Large Families

Because it's the feast St. Catherine of Siena, the twenty-third of twenty-four children, I'm posting the saints we've collected (so far) who are the happy members or parents of highly blessed families ~ families containing five or more children.

Here's our list. Please let us know who needs to be added!

Queen St. Margaret of Scotland, the mother of eight children
St. Therese of Lisieux, the ninth child
St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother was the eleventh of thirteen children
St. Thomas Aquinas was the sixth son of the noble Aquino family
Gianna Beretta Molla was the 10th of 13 children, mother of 4, the last of whom she died to save (Thanks, MM)
Pope St. Piux X was the second of eleven children in the Sarto family
Queen St. Clotilda bore five children
St. Catherine of Genoa was the youngest of five children
Faustina Kowalska of the Most Blessed Sacrament, the third of ten children (Thanks, Rachel)
St. Bridget of Sweden was the mother of eight children
St. Hedwig was one of eight children and the mother of seven
St. Charles Borromeo was the third of six children
St. Thomas More was the father of four children, but also had a stepdaughter and two wards, plus several other students whom he mentored
St. Bernadette of Lourdes, one of six named children (Thanks, Squelly)
St. Leonides, a martyr of the third century, was the father of seven sons
St. Louis de Montfort was one of eighteen children
St. Joan of Arc was one of five siblings
St. Francis de Sales was the oldest of six brothers
*St. Casimir of Poland -- the third of thirteen children (added 5-24-11)

As Promised: The Fairy House

Anna goes out every morning these days to check for eggs in the henhouse and fairies in the fairy house. No kiddin'.

Here's Anna's baby, with room, she tells me "for about a thousand fairies." She built her fairy house when the weather first started to clear this spring. Then William knocked it down. Durn that little brother! But Gabey's a good architect; he rebuilt the brick part and everyone pitched in to reshingle it with bark.

Now it's all ready for guests.

(shshshs... A secret door...)

Double decker fairy bunks with fresh grass mattresses .

The dining room, complete with rock stools and a little rock bowl of juniper berries.Anna, putting a lady bug in because "fairies have lady bugs for pets, you know."

If you were a fairy, wouldn't you move in?

What we're doing today...

Diggin' in the perennial beds
Where we've been pleased to find
Lots of little gardeners,
Hidden most of the time:
While we work the garden top
They work below
digging, turning, composting,
Helping things grow.

Check out the little gardener William's holding:


Most people call them worms,
But we like William's name for them better.
We've got lots of Wiggly Digglies 'round here.
The children have a Wiggly Diggly rescue center. I've been moving a brick border in our side yard and whenever I pick up a brick and unearth a Wiggly Diggly the Littles swoop in to rescue it and bury it next to Anna's fairy house (something I've been remiss in not getting pics of yet! I'll get on that... )
Addendum:
Here's a conversation I had with Anna a few minutes ago.
Anna: So worms are good guys?
Me: Yep.
Anna: How about rolie polies?
Me: Gee, I'm not sure, Anna. Neither good guys or bad guys, I imagine.
Anna: Well, worms are good guys and bad guys. (She says this with a certain authority that is so purely Anna.)
Me: (I think, "Sheesh, kiddo, this is what we've been talking about practically all morning. Why do you always have to contradict me?")
I say: I think worms really are good guys, Anna...
Anna: Well, not to a bug that worms eat, Mommy!
Me: I stand corrected.
Addendum to the Addendum
The above conversation begged the question: What do Wiggly Digglies eat, anyway?
Here's the answer we found on WikiAnswers:

Worms have tiny mouths and will take extremely small bits out of things like bacteria, fungi and protozoa. They love organic matter such as plants, fruit, compost heaps of cut grass, potato peelings and decaying animals. When the food is too large for their mouths they moisten it to make it soft and suck it in. Worms of course have no teeth and the "gizzard" does all the work. The grains of sand or soil will be ingested in with the food along with moisture (much like birds and chickens) and a grinding process occurs. When the food leaves the worm's gizzard is goes into the intestine and is dissolved and absorbed into the worm's blood which also keeps the worms moist and strong.
And:
You cannot cut their head off or cut them in the middle and they will grow into two worms. Cutting of any vital organs will kill them. However, if you cut the tail off a worm (not advisable) then they will grow another one. Worms are essential in gardens because they keep the soil soft and full of nutrients which are good for your plants. When it rains hard worms will surface to the top of the soil and although just in theory it could be there are chemicals that go into the earth or there isn't enough oxygen so they surface. Worms mainly eat dirt and leaves. Sand and soil also help.

So, it sounds like the only "bugs" that might think worms are bad guys are protozoa.
Enough about worms now.

How did GKC know about this back in 1917?

"Men are ruled, at this minute by the clock, by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern." -

G.K. Chesterton

The New Name, Utopia of Usurers and Other Essays, 1917

* If you haven't had your coffee yet and need a jolt to wake up, take a look at this list of what Obama accomplished in just his first 100 days in office. Or go here to see how Karl Rove thinks he's done.

In Honor of St. Louis de Montfort

Devoted servant of the Blessed Mother,

inspired author of Total Consecration to Mary

On his feastday

St. Louis de Montfort,

Pray for us!

In Honor of St. Paul of the Cross

Founder of the Passionist Order

On his feastday

St. Paul of the Cross,

Pray for us!