… and these Thy gifts …

For All Your Gifts, Father, Our Thanks.

For the blessings of hearth and home.
For a husband who celebrates his fatherhood with joy and faithfulness
For Your gift of life. Especially new life.
For the children that surround our table, along with their smiles and squabbles.
For the food that You have lovingly provided.
For the livelihood that helps keep us warm and well-fed.
For family to share time with, to love and miss from afar.
For friends who share our journey.
For the gift of forgiveness.
For Your unending Mercy and Love.
Father, we give thanks.

__________________________________________

Father in Heaven,
Creator of all and source of all goodness and love,
Look kindly upon us
And receive our heartfelt gratitude
In this time of giving thanks.

Thank you for all the graces and blessings
You have bestowed upon us, spiritual and temporal:
Our faith and religious heritage
Our food and shelter,
Our health,
The love we have for one another,
Our family and friends.

Dear Father,
In Your infinite generosity,
Grant us continued graces and blessings throughout the coming year.

This we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ, Your Son.
Amen.

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Luxury for Mom:

Started off the early morning with 1/4 cup of Mariebelle Aztec Hot Chocolate… just enough for me to handle in the dark hours of the dawn…

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Yena’s Quote of the Month: “Mom, what’s the name of that movie, Princess Diarrhea?” (Princess Diaries)… oh my child, so blessedly out of the loop.

Tip for Slow Food Lovers in Wintry Weather:

Take some oxtails from your favorite grass fed beef farmer, put in water in a large heavy pot, bring to a boil, then simmer overnight on LOW LOW LOW. Wake up in the morning to falling-off-the-bone tenderness. Take out meat pieces with slotted spoon, leave pot with stock outside in the cold (32 degrees F here right now), covered. In the early evening an hour before dinner, take pot inside. Scoop out solidified beef fat (could probably use this for a birdseed feeder?), bring stock to a boil, season with salt and add yummy things like peeled quartered potatoes, lots of onions, whole black peppercorns, green beans and cabbage leaves. Return meat to pot and simmer just until all warmed up. Perfect for fall.

Prayer to Saint John Bosco for our Young Driver

O glorious Saint John Bosco, who in order to lead young people to the feet of the divine Master and to mould them in the light of faith and Christian morality didst heroically sacrifice thyself to the very end of thy life and didst set up a proper religious Institute destined to endure and to bring to the farthest boundaries of the earth thy glorious work, obtain also for us from Our Lord a holy love for young people who are exposed to so many seductions in order that we may generously spend ourselves in supporting them against the snares of the devil, in keeping them safe from the dangers of the world, and in guiding them, pure and holy, in the path that leads to God. Amen.

Keep her safe from irate drivers who are impatient to get to where they’re going…

On my to-do-list today:

• David Lebovitz’ Ginger Ice Cream
• Ginger Molasses Cookies from King Arthur
• a fruitcake, perhaps this one from Traveler’s Lunchbox
• If I have time to spare, make oven mitts kinda like these for Christmas presents — using the material we have right now, including the Insul-Bright and cotton batting I got from Over the Rainbow, we could make 15 of these!!
• Request Advent books (yeah, a tad late) — to pick up on Friday after Thanksgiving. Might post links and book suggestions later, we’ll see.
• Go shopping with hubby for our artist-in-training, soon-to-be-10-year-old’s put-together art box: tackle box filled with goodies like Prismacolors in his favorite hues, a new sketchbook or two, and other goodies from Michaels
• If not too tired, shopping for stocking stuffers also for St. Nick’s Day on the 6th.
• Return shoes to Zappos, my very own shoe store in the living room.
• Print out Bible verses and fill advent calendar.

Off to do my 15-minute-each-room tasks, so I can check them off Toodledo, THE (so-far) perfect online spot to help me accomplish tasks according to GTD principles. Still working on a paper-based organizational tool, but haven’t perfected *my* system yet.

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Ora et labora. Pray and work. And so we begin.

Lepanto 2008 is still taking pledges for Rosaries to be said these next four years. We’re almost halfway to the goal of 30,000,000 rosaries pledged. Please sign up today. One of the clearest messages this election left me and my family is that we, as individuals, as a family, as a nation, HAVE NOT PRAYED ENOUGH.

A day before my consecration last year, dh stepped up and told all of us that we are to begin praying the Rosary everyday. Since then, we have, missing 3 days in the past year. But we can do so much more. To help out, I’ve gotten ourselves and a few friends booklets and pamphlets from Rosary Center. Kathryn also has a wonderful set of Rosary Three Part Cards at her blog. We’ve printed these out on cardstock and keep it on our altar, making it really easy for our little one (6 yo) to memorize the Mysteries. We take turns leading the Rosary. I.e., the person leading the Rosary says the Mysteries and leads the prayers for the first Mystery. The next child (older) leads the next Mystery, and so on. Since there are 6 of us, including parents, on any given day, one family member leads and another takes a break from leading. It takes discipline and a commitment, and yes, there have been evenings when we started saying the Rosary too late in the evening and everyone’s cranky and not really cooperating. Our best Rosaries are said early (before dinner) or in the car when we’re driving someplace.

Here’s another Scriptural Rosary for children that may be helpful.

Also, please consider participating in the Inauguration Day Rosary Novena. It begins November 10 and ends on January 20, Inauguration Day. The specific intentions are on the temporary website, and I’m copying them here as well for your use:

• For the triumph of the Culture of Life in the United States of America.
• For President-elect Obama, and for all of the leaders of the United States of America, that they will be led personally to Jesus Christ and His truth, and that they will lead our country in a positive direction. Or in other words, as Archbishop Wuerl said, “That our nation’s new leaders be guided in their decisions with wisdom and compassion and at the heart of all of their decisions may there be a deep respect for and commitment to the sanctity and dignity of all human life and support for the most vulnerable among us.”
• For the hearts, minds and SOULS of the American people, that they will be turned back towards Jesus Christ and the “least of His brethren”.
• For a renewal of the virtues of purity and self-control, especially among our youth.
• In reparation for the scourges of abortion, Embryonic Stem Cell Research, euthanasia, cloning, artificial contraception, and all manifestations of the Culture of Death, and especially in reparation for the support and/or complacency that we as American Catholics have shown to these evils.

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Prayers for all our statesmen, politicians, and lawyers, and for all of us voting these people into office…

V. Lord, have mercy
R. Lord have mercy
V. Christ, have mercy
R. Christ have mercy
V. Lord, have mercy
R. Lord have mercy
V. Christ hear us
R. Christ, graciously hear us

V. St. Thomas More, Saint and Martyr, R. Pray for us (Repeat after each invocation)
St. Thomas More, Patron of Statesmen, Politicians and Lawyers
St. Thomas More, Patron of Justices, Judges and Magistrates
St. Thomas More, Model of Integrity and Virtue in Public and Private Life
St. Thomas More, Servant of the Word of God and the Body and Blood of Christ
St. Thomas More, Model of Holiness in the Sacrament of Marriage
St. Thomas More, Teacher of his Children in the Catholic Faith
St. Thomas More, Defender of the Weak and the Poor
St. Thomas More, Promoter of Human Life and Dignity

V. Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world
R. Spare us O Lord
V. Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world
R. Graciously hear us O Lord
V. Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world
R. Have mercy on us

Let us pray:
O Glorious St. Thomas More, Patron of Statesmen, Politicians, Judges and Lawyers, your life of
prayer and penance and your zeal for justice, integrity and firm principle in public and family life led
you to the path of martyrdom and sainthood. Intercede for our Statesmen, Politicians, Judges and
Lawyers, that they may be courageous and effective in their defense and promotion of the sanctity of
human life - the foundation of all other human rights. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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“Our hearts were made for Thee, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in Thee.”
“Sero te amavi pulchritudo tam antiqua et tam nova!” (Late have I loved thee, O Beauty so ancient and so new!)

Lots of reading and activities here.

Today, we are remembering St. Augustine. Yesterday, it was his mother’s memorial. These are two of my favorite saint stories — the mother who prayed unceasingly for her wayward son, soooo unwaveringly faithful, that he turned away from sin and became a saint. Here’s what St. Augustine had to say about his own mother. How can a parent not be inspired?

I keep wondering what St. Augustine and St. Monica and all the rest of them are saying up there in heaven after his words have been severely misused by those down here.

And for those of us who are just that wee bit crazy about Latin, here’s a very timely lesson (w00t! This will take us several weeks to dig into!) from Context, Pelosi. from Aliens in this World. Gotta say though, if Pelosi reads Latin, I can’t help but be mighty impressed. But then again, as the Spartans said, *IF*.

We are lucky enough to be the owners of a couple of older volumes by St. Augustine, found at a book sale, they used to belong to a priest! DD-17 has been reading parts of Confessions for her Theology of the Body class, so this is great timing. Especially since she’s graduating at the end of the week, she’ll have PLENTY of time to delve into more of St. A’s works.

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Well, it’s official. The Summer Cold has invaded our family. Three of us are down. Tonight we allowed our 12-year-old to skip the family Rosary so he can sleep early — we were praying quite late because Dad and I got home around 9:30 from our dinner date (celebrating 18 years and 7 months of wedded bliss, yeah, baby!!). Well, the 6-yo who got it first pleaded that she couldn’t lead her decade because she’s got a severe case of the sniffles. Her Hail Mary’s sounded like this:

[sniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiif] Hail Mary, full of grace [sniffffffffffffffff], the Lord is with thee.

9-yo volunteered to take over and we were grateful… problem is, he’s got the sleepies, and his Hail Mary’s sounded like this:

Hail Ma[yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwnnn]ry, full of grace, the Loooo[yawwwwwwwwnnnnnn]rd is with thee….

it was one slow Rosary, I tell you. I wonder if the Saints who were hovering near were stifling yawns as well. Wait, there isn’t sleepiness in Heaven, is there?

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One of the things I promised myself to do this Lenten season is to learn how to pray the Divine Office. As a poorly catechized Catholic, I still get things mixed up, so I *think* the Divine Office is the same as the Liturgy of the Hours, and the Breviary, but please don’t take my word for it.

For two years we subscribed to Magnificat, which is a beautiful publication, but I found that I was the only one really using it, because it would go on my desk or my bedside table or my purse… I need something that the whole family can use and that we can share. Of course, I can’t just get anything without doing my research bit…

So today I googled “breviary” at the 4real site and found several links. I won’t share those here because the point of this post is to sift out the stuff that we do need and will use. But look at what I stumbled on right away:

What a blessing! Jenn linked to Elizabeth’s post: The Rhythm of Prayer in one of the threads. God bless her, I feel like she wrote the post just for me! It contains all the answers to the questions I have on my list, and links to the books I’ve been planning to check out. Don’t you love it when these things happen?

We have the Patmos missal for children and it is just beautiful, there’s no doubt in my mind the other Patmos publications will be beautiful as well. I will be asking dh and kids which ones I should get first /which ones we are most likely to use together, so I may amend this post with more links as need be…

A primer on what it’s all about

ETA 2/25/08: Someone from the CTNGREG list sent this link to his project:

The Divine Office in Latin! With English…. Beautiful.

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