Day 5 - St. Therese Novena

From today's email:

Peace be with you!

I'm getting some amazing emails from people praying this novena! God is certainly listening!

As we continue this powerful novena, I'd like to pray for spiritual motherhood. Religious Sisters need to be spiritual mothers to all those they encounter.

So, let's pray for them and for all women praying with us to have the spiritual motherhood of the Saints!

Here are the prayers for today:

Dearest Saint Therese of Lisieux, you said that you would spend your time in heaven doing good on earth.

Your trust in God was complete. Pray that He may increase my trust in His goodness and mercy as I ask for the following petitions...

(State your intentions)

Pray for me that I, like you, may have great and innocent confidence in the loving promises of our God. Pray that I may live my life in union with God's plan for me, and one day see the Face of God whom you loved so deeply.

Saint Therese, you were faithful to God up until the moment of your death. Pray for me that I may be faithful to our loving God. May my life bring peace and love to the world through faithful endurance in love for God our savior.

Loving God, You gave St. Therese the gift of forgiving others even when she felt hurt and betrayed. Help me to be able to forgive others who have wounded me, especially...

I try to forgive, Lord. Help me to forgive 70 times 7 times!
I am humble, Lord. Give me more humility!
I see you, Lord. Help me to see you more!
I trust you, Lord. Help me to trust you more!
I love you, Lord. Help me to love you more!

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be...

Amen.

You can have the daily reminders sent to your inbox by going to PrayMoreNovenas.com

Day 4 - St. Therese Novena

From this morning's email:

Peace be with you!

As we continue to pray for more women to answer God's call to the religious life, I'd like to pray for something else as well.

Today let's pray for all those looking for work. Let's pray for everyone who is under paid and those who are unable to work. Let's pray for just and lasting employment for those who need it most.

And, of course, for your intentions!

Here are the prayers for today:

Dearest Saint Therese of Lisieux, you said that you would spend your time in heaven doing good on earth.

Your trust in God was complete. Pray that He may increase my trust in His goodness and mercy as I ask for the following petitions...

(State your intentions)

Pray for me that I, like you, may have great and innocent confidence in the loving promises of our God. Pray that I may live my life in union with God's plan for me, and one day see the Face of God whom you loved so deeply.

Saint Therese, you were faithful to God up until the moment of your death. Pray for me that I may be faithful to our loving God. May my life bring peace and love to the world through faithful endurance in love for God our savior.

Loving God, You taught St. Therese how to find You through the "little way" of humility and simplicity. Grant that I may never miss the grace hidden in humble service to others.

I am humble, Lord. Give me more humility!
I see you, Lord. Help me to see you more!
I trust you, Lord. Help me to trust you more!
I love you, Lord. Help me to love you more!

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be...
Amen.

Day 3 - St. Therese Novena

From Pray More Novenas:  We have reached 27,098 people praying this novena together! Thank you so much for your help in spreading the word! (you can still keep spreading it!)

Today, let's pray for free and open communication within our lives. Communication is the foundation to trust, honesty and therefore love.

Here are the prayers for today:

Dearest Saint Therese of Lisieux, you said that you would spend your time in heaven doing good on earth.

Your trust in God was complete. Pray that He may increase my trust in His goodness and mercy as I ask for the following petitions...

(State your intentions)

Pray for me that I, like you, may have great and innocent confidence in the loving promises of our God. Pray that I may live my life in union with God's plan for me, and one day see the Face of God who you loved so deeply.

Saint Therese, you were faithful to God up until the moment of your death. Pray for me that I may be faithful to our loving God. May my life bring peace and love to the world through faithful endurance in love for God our savior.

Loving God, you gave St. Therese the ability to see You in the ordinary routine of each day. Help me to be aware of your presence in the everyday events of my life.

I see you, Lord. Help me to see you more!
I trust you, Lord. Help me to trust you more!
I love you, Lord. Help me to love you more!

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be...

Amen.

Sign up to get these reminders via email at praymorenovenas.com

St. Therese Novena - Day 2

Peace be with you!

Today, let's pray for all the relationships in our lives. Let's pray that we can be more loving and open within our relationships with family, friends and God.

Here are the prayers for today:

Day 2 - Novena to St. Therese

Dearest Saint Therese of Lisieux, you said that you would spend your time in heaven doing good on earth.

Your trust in God was complete. Pray that He may increase my trust in His goodness and mercy as I ask for the following petitions...

(State your intentions)

Pray for me that I, like you, may have great and innocent confidence in the loving promises of our God. Pray that I may live my life in union with God's plan for me, and one day see the Face of God who you loved so deeply.

Saint Therese, you were faithful to God up until the moment of your death. Pray for me that I may be faithful to our loving God. May my life bring peace and love to the world through faithful endurance in love for God our savior.

Loving God, you loved St. Therese's complete trust in your care. Help me to rely on your providential care in each circumstance of my life, especially the most difficult and stressful.

I trust you, Lord. Help me to trust you more!
I love you, Lord. Help me to love you more!

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be...

Amen.

Day 1 - Novena to St. Therese

Dearest Saint Therese of Lisieux, you said that you would spend your time in heaven doing good on earth.

Your trust in God was complete. Pray that He may increase my trust in His goodness and mercy as I ask for the following petitions...

(State your intentions)

Pray for me that I, like you, may have great and innocent confidence in the loving promises of our God. Pray that I may live my life in union with God's plan for me, and one day see the Face of God who you loved so deeply.

Saint Therese, you were faithful to God up until the moment of your death. Pray for me that I may be faithful to our loving God. May my life bring peace and love to the world through faithful endurance in love for God our savior.

Loving God, you blessed St. Therese with a capacity for a great love. Help me to believe in your unconditional love for each of your children, especially for me.

I love you, Lord. Help me to love you more!

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be...

Amen.

Cloche Tip to the nice people at Pray More Novenas.  
We recommend signing up for their service directly, but since I heard from two people yesterday who were having trouble with that for one reason or another, I'm going to reprint this novena here.

St. Therese Novena Instructions

We've had a request to print the daily prayers for this novena here, so I may as well start with the introductory letter I received today:

Tomorrow is the first day of the novena to St. Therese!

Are you ready?

St. Therese is known as a miracle worker. She is a powerful intercessor and she wants nothing more than for you to come closer to Jesus.

St. Therese was a very holy young carmelite nun in France. She lived a simple yet profound life that was entirely dedicated to God.

Nuns are great, don't you think?

Wouldn't the world be better off with more nuns like St. Therese?

If you agree, then I think you will like my intention for this novena!

But, before I tell you what it is, I want to give you an update on our goal. We want to get 35,000 people praying this novena.

Well, since Wednesday we've had 1,292 new people sign up! So, we're up to 25,109!

That's good, but it's not going to get us to 35,000. So, after I tell you about my intention, I'd like you to do something. If you haven't already, take a moment to sit down and think about who in your life would be interested in praying this powerful novena.

Who do you know who needs God right now?

Think of those people and then invite them to sign up to pray with you here:

http://www.praymorenovenas.com/st-therese-novena/

Ok, now to my intention...

Like I said, it would be great to have more holy nuns just like St. Therese! So, I'm praying for this great project that is encouraging young women to answer God's call!

It's called the One Rose project.

I could tell you more about it, but it would be best if you just watch the video here:

http://imaginesisters.org/onerose/

I hope you'll be a part of the One Rose Project :)

Now, to post your intention - go here http://www.praymorenovenas.com/st-therese-novena/#comment

*Note - If you post an intention, your name will be posted publicly. If your intention is private in nature you can use your initials instead.

I'm praying for you!

God bless you!
John-Paul - PrayMoreNovenas.com

St. Therese Novena

Sign up today to start receiving email reminders for a novena to Saint Therese in your inbox.  I've already done this a couple times and it's easy and free and highly recommended!  The novena starts tomorrow, so put it on today's to-do list.  It just takes a minute.

(I guess I'm on an "email reminder" theme today.)

Year of Faith

If you've been reading any Catholic news outlets at all, you've probably heard that the Holy Father has declared the upcoming year to be The Year of Faith.  The event coincides with the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary* of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and not surprisingly the Catechism is a major theme of the year.  Another theme announced by Archbishop Fisichella is the Creed, with the idea that the profession of faith would become "a daily prayer, learned by heart, as it was in the first centuries of Christianity."

Of course, the Vatican is launching things in their own, unique way with a web site, a special Mass, and an official song for the occasion, but I'm more interested in what parishes, families, and individual Catholics are doing to receive the graces of this year.  To that end, it's interesting to finally see some news in this category.  To promote the reading of the Catechism, Flocknote has created what looks like a really simple program to read through the entire Catechism of the Catholic Church in a year.  Simply sign up here and beginning on October 11 you'll get an email with your daily reading assignment.

"And as you read a little bit every day, the truths of God will soak into your soul. You’ll gain new insights into how these things apply to your life. You’ll find yourself growing stronger in faith and closer to God as the year goes because the Catechism is truly light along the path of faith. Isn’t that what the Year of Faith is all about?" **

If you know of any plans for celebrating the Year of Faith, or have suggestions, mention them in the comment box.  And when we hear of things, we'll be sure to post them here; just watch for the Year of Faith logo.


*Seriously, it's been 20 years?  Boy, does that make me feel old!
**Cloche Tip to Marc Cardaronella

Recent Projects: Chalkboard Towel Rack

While the blog may have been rather quiet this summer, I think I can speak for all of the Church Ladies in saying that we kept quite busy in our domestic churches. Knowing that I'd be more inclined to cozy up to my computer as the weather cooled, however, I made sure to snap some photos as I went, the better to share a few of my projects with you.

First off is this repurposing of a picture frame I'd received as a gift.

The frame holds a 4x6" print, to help you picture the scale.

It didn't particularly match my decor, and the verse unfortuantely tended to put a certain Marty Haugen earworm on my brain, so I knew some refinishing was in order. I liked the format with the text on the frame, though, so I decided to go with chalkboard paint, and turn it into a much-needed towel rack for our guest bath (currently, that bath sports a single bar, awkwardly placed right over the toilet).

After a misadventure wherein I managed to break the (glued-in) glass while trying to remove it*, I took my hand sander, loaded with some fine-grit sandpaper, and thoroughly roughed up the entire surface, including the outside and inside edges.

In retrospect, I could have sanded a bit more; after painting, you can still just barely see the outline of the design if the light is right.

After two coats of chalkboard paint, I added a pair of hooks, drilling the pilot holes rather carefully, since the frame wasn't solid wood. If anyone has any insights into getting these type of hooks straight, I'd be curious. One of mine is just a tad off, but there isn't a single flat surface by which to true these.

I can't see these hooks without thinking of this.

A little chalk art, and our new towel holder was ready to hang. In the future, it might hold welcome notes for our guests, or notes to mark whose towel is whose, but for now it seemed appropriate to replace the old hymn with a thematically-appropriate favorite.

*The opening turned out to be just a tad smaller than 4x6, so I couldn't just use glass from another frame. Since I was just going to use a 15¢ print of a vacation photo, I cut apart the clear plastic top from a greeting card box to replace it.

Getting to know you ...

When this charming analogy came up on my reader yesterday, I was reminded that I wanted to share this site with you all.

I've been writing a lesson on the Liturgy of the Hours for my parish's RE program, and Coffee and Canticles has been a great help.  The best place to start (for me anyway) was at the Breviary Bootcamp tab, which has a helpful glossary and all the basics.  I hope you go beyond that though.  By subscribing, you'll get periodic posts that help and enhance your daily reading, and Daria does a fantastic job of responding to questions in the comments boxes.