Christmas Novena - START TODAY!

While a novena is normally a nine-day [or nine hour] prayer, the term sometimes is used for any prayer that is repeated over a series of days. The Saint Andrew Christmas Novena is often called simply the "Christmas Novena" or the "Christmas Anticipation Prayer," because it is prayed 15 times every day from the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle (November 30th) until Christmas. The First Sunday of Advent is the Sunday closest to the Feast of Saint Andrew.

The novena is not actually addressed to Saint Andrew, but to God Himself, asking Him to grant our request in the honor of the birth of His Son at Christmas. You can say the prayer all 15 times, all at once, or divide up the recitation as necessary (perhaps five times at each meal).

Prayed as a family, the Saint Andrew Christmas Novena is a very good way to help focus the attention of your children on the Advent season.

Saint Andrew Christmas Novena

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

(source: by Scott P. Richert at Catholicism.about.com)

Please also include in your prayers Sister Joseph Andrew Bogdanowicz, O.P. and all the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist!  Happy Feast Day, Sister!  You can visit them right now at http://www.sistersofmary.org/index.php

Christmas Novena - START TOMORROW!

While a novena is normally a nine-day [or nine hour] prayer, the term sometimes is used for any prayer that is repeated over a series of days. The Saint Andrew Christmas Novena is often called simply the "Christmas Novena" or the "Christmas Anticipation Prayer," because it is prayed 15 times every day from the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle (November 30th) until Christmas. The First Sunday of Advent is the Sunday closest to the Feast of Saint Andrew.

The novena is not actually addressed to Saint Andrew, but to God Himself, asking Him to grant our request in the honor of the birth of His Son at Christmas. You can say the prayer all 15 times, all at once, or divide up the recitation as necessary (perhaps five times at each meal).

Prayed as a family, the Saint Andrew Christmas Novena is a very good way to help focus the attention of your children on the Advent season.

Saint Andrew Christmas Novena

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

(source: by Scott P. Richert at Catholicism.about.com)

Christmas Novena

While a novena is normally a nine-day [or nine hour] prayer, the term sometimes is used for any prayer that is repeated over a series of days. The Saint Andrew Christmas Novena is often called simply the "Christmas Novena" or the "Christmas Anticipation Prayer," because it is prayed 15 times every day from the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle (November 30th) until Christmas. The First Sunday of Advent is the Sunday closest to the Feast of Saint Andrew.

The novena is not actually addressed to Saint Andrew, but to God Himself, asking Him to grant our request in the honor of the birth of His Son at Christmas. You can say the prayer all 15 times, all at once, or divide up the recitation as necessary (perhaps five times at each meal).

Prayed as a family, the Saint Andrew Christmas Novena is a very good way to help focus the attention of your children on the Advent season.

Saint Andrew Christmas Novena

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

(source: by Scott P. Richert at Catholicism.about.com)

A.M.D.G. - Why We Homeschool!

Okay, folks, for what it's worth, here it is, the skinny on why we homeschool and use Seton Home Study School:


http://www.setonhome.org/3344/ad-majorem-dei-gloriam-to-the-greater-glory-of-god/

I'd love to hear YOUR homeschool and faith-based stories (both triumphant and terrifying!) so we may share some mutual inspiration.

Thank you for the gift of your gracious company here at my blog!  Know that when I count my Thanksgiving blessings, you indeed will be among them!

Hostess Gift: Fudge!

Heading out to Thanksgiving or a holiday party and need a quick hostess gift?

Well, a friend graciously shared the following recipe and I couldn't resist sharing it with you!  Give it ten minutes to make, then 20 minutes to cool in the freezer while you run upstairs and change, and *voila!*   You're off to your party with a delicious, festive, homemade, hostess gift in hand!

I've used this several times already, with great success (and my skill level in the kitchen ranks, "Inept").  Enjoy!

MACKINAC ISLAND FUDGE
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. confectioners' sugar
1/2 c. cocoa
1/2 c. nuts (optional)

- Mix milk, butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and salt in heavy saucepan.
- Cook at medium heat until boiling.  Boil exactly six minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat and add vanilla, cocoa, and confectioners' sugar.
- Beat with mixer until smooth and thick.  Add nuts, if desired.
- Pour into a buttered 9x9 pan and freeze just 20 minutes (otherwise it's too hard to cut).
- Cut into pieces and enjoy!

May Our Lady be your Joy this Advent as she leads you through the Rosary to the Manger, ever closer to the Sacred Heart of her Infant Son, the Prince of Peace, Jesus!  Vive Jesu!

Pray. Hope. And Don't Worry!

As you might guess, I'm not happy about the election results.

Although not Catholic, Mitt Romney is a man of integrity and faith, who understands that God ALREADY has blessed America, and that we therefore must be good stewards of those blessings.  I think Mitt and his wife, Ann, both would have been a blessing to the White House with their gracious presence.

(....*sigh*....)

But, all authority comes from God, so He must have His reasons for allowing the United States' election outcome.  Maybe, as a whole, our country just got what it richly deserves, in return for our culture of death and promiscuous ways.  Remember how often the Israelites got a spanking whenever they strayed?

Fear and despair, however, are from the evil one.  I also hold fast to the faith and fortitude of the remnant Church and the firm hope that, in the end, Our Lady's "Immaculate Heart will triumph!"

.....I just have a feeling it's not going to be very pleasant to get there.

Pray!  Pray!  Pray!  And in the words of St. Padre Pio, "Pray.  Hope.  And don't worry."

Onward Christian soldiers!  Amen!

 

On Subtlety and Grace

"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made." (Genesis 3:1)


And here's how Old Scratch does it in my world:

".....the idea that somehow this is all pointless. I think one way that the devil distracts and dissuades mothers of many, who came to mothering with the best intentions, is to suggest to them that their wide-eyed optimism and extraordinary openness to life was really a very silly propostition. He teases them with the apparent 'failures' of their mothering experiences, the ungrateful children who hurl ugly words, the stumbling sinfulness of every day life. He taunts them with the little ones yet to raise and undermines every last shred of confidence. And he says, 'don't you think you better look for something more? Clearly, this magnum opus isn't turning out so great.'  "  (Elizabeth Foss, "In the Heart of My Home", blog post 11/05/12)

Wow!  Was Elizabeth at MY house today!?  How did she know this?  Well, she probably could hear us.  Because in my house, we don't have the Richter Scale.  We have the Screech Scale.  And the more frustrated Momma is, the higher the register on the Screech Scale.

Thankfully for us all, Elizabeth addresses conversely, with grace and gratitude, the vocation of being "A Servant Mother"  in this post:

http://www.elizabethfoss.com/reallearning/2012/11/a-servant-mother-31-days-to-remember-the-mission-resumes.html

I must remember that God's purpose for me as a mother is not to mold into Perfect People the precious children He has placed on loan to me, but rather to give those children the unending and unconditional love that encourages them to blossom into the perfectly unique people God already knows they have the potential to be.

Oh -- and before you think I can just stand idly by and calmly watch it all unfold, like magic sparkles in a Disney cartoon, let me assure you of this.  I am well aware that I still have to wipe hineys, correct manners, dispense hugs, referee arguments, grade papers, and make semi-palatable dinners.

But that's not the mission.  The mission is to seek God's Will.  And then get out of His way.

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." (III John 1:4)
 

Kitchen Tip #1 for the Inept

Here's hoping I'm not the only person out there who sometimes has to dust off her stove or wasn't quite sure what all those numbers were for on those dials above the, um, thingy.

I'm sure that far more competent cooks than I (and probably even lesser ones, as hard to imagine as that might be) already know this quick 'n dirty trick for shredding chicken, but I can tell you it was a most welcome revelation to me!  Drop boiled, cooked, boneless, skinless chicken breast pieces into your kitchen mixer (yes, normally the bastion of all baked goods), spin it up and *voila!*  Shredded chicken ready literally in 10 seconds or less for BBQ sandwiches, soft shell burritos, omelettes, and more!

Thank you, Jen Schmidt, at http://10MinuteDinners.com for this amazing tip!  You also can visit her blog at
http://beautyandbedlam.com/how-to-shred-chicken/

Yum!  Enjoy!