St. Andrew Christmas Novena

Happy Feast of St. Andrew! 

I was blessed to be able to venerate a first class relic of St. Andrew after Mass this morning.

It is piously believed that whoever recites the St. Andrew Christmas Novena fifteen times a day from the feast of St. Andrew until Christmas will obtain what is asked.

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment at which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires (Mention your intentions here) through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His most Blessed Mother. Amen.

Imprimatur

+Michael Augustine, Archbishop of New York

February 6, 1897

Happy Thanksgiving

This year as the unknown looms ahead of me, I am reminded that there is so much for which we can and should be thankful.

May God bless all of you!

*I couldn't resist going with the Charlie Brown theme. My little boys really like Snoopy. How could I not be a fan?

Water Damage (Part 2)

Once the walls were painted and tile was installed, we chose carpeting for two of the bedrooms. The girls chose Stainmaster Trusoft carpet in "Medallion" for their room. The carpet complements the "Greek Isles" paint that they chose for their walls nicely. The boys settled on Stainmaster Trusoft "Raffia" for their bedroom. We will use the same color in the other two bedrooms when we redo the carpeting in the other two bedrooms next summer.

We knew that having mismatched floors in the living room and hallway would look odd. We also knew that we couldn't match our old Pergo with new Pergo. We decided to have Pergo Outlast Auburn Scraped Oak installed in our kitchen, dining room, hallway, and living room. Little did we know that this decision would delay our flooring install and trim re-installation for months. Updated to say years.

The Blessing of Children

On Saturday, October 28, we had the privilege of witnessing our tenth godchild’s baptism. I was surprised and honored when our godson’s mother called and asked if we would be godparents to their soon to be adopted baby boy. Little did she know that Mikhael would be born one month early and shortly after calling me, she and her husband would be holding their first son, Mikhael Pierre, in their arms. Little did any of us know that Mikhael would be baptized three days after his original due date.

Before the baptism, I was thankful to hear the priest speak about the gift of children. He shared with everyone that parents do their best to contain their children during Mass and to keep them quiet. He commented that we shouldn’t complain about the noise of young children in the church. He said that rather we should be thankful for the noise because the noise of young children means that the church has a future. The priest’s comments reminded me of the holy priest who baptized our oldest daughter telling me that when Joan cried, she was praising God in the only way she knew how.

I pray for purity, holiness, (eternal) happiness for Mikhael and all my children and godchildren each day. I pray that they all become great saints and bring greater glory to God. May God watch over and protect our children that they may one day sing His praises in Heaven.