What happened to Letter's?

Why don't people write letters to each other anymore? I love receiving letters in the mail--now that hasn't happened since high school, but I always enjoyed them. Letters make people smile and light up! Letters are a great way to stay in touch, especially since schedules often conflict and talking on the phone isn't always the convenient option. Even with emails, you lose the personal connection. We should all write a letter to someone once a week. Someone who can use a smile! :)

Faith, Hope, and Charity

Faith: Faith is (Heb 11:1) “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” our firm belief in God and all that He has revealed to us through Holy Mother Church. 1 Thes 2:13 “When you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God.”

Hope: Hope (Heb 10:23) “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Hope resides in the will; it keeps us from discouragement, sustains us during desolation, and opens our hearts to eternal beatitude. God’s almighty power, infinite goodness, and fidelity to His promises are the pillars of our hope that we will receive the grace necessary to reach heaven.

Charity: Charity is our love for God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. Jesus told His apostles, (Jn 13:34) “Love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” St. Paul told us, (1 Cor 13:13) “Faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” Charity is a gift to us from God, wrapped in sanctifying grace. Charity, like hope, resides in the will.

Please Watch

Planned Parenthood Exposed

http://youtube.com/watch?v=18IKmx6wsYk

It's amazing the amount of undercover investigations and news reports you find on YouTube that expose the truth about PP--But how often do you hear these stories on your local news channels?

What's amazing to me is how many WOMEN back Planned Parenthood, and how vocal and active they are in doing so. How do they sleep at night??

St. Rita of Cascia

Born 1386 at Roccaparena, Umbria, Italy

Died 22 May 1457 at the Augustinian convent at Cascia of tuberculosis

Beatified 1 October 1627 by Pope Urban VIII

Canonized 24 May 1900

Daughter of Antonio and Amata Lotti; known as Peacemakers of Jesus, they had Rita late in life. From her early youth, Rita visited the Augustinian nuns at Cascia, and showed interest in a religious life. However, when she was twelve, her parents betrothed her to Paolo Mancini, an ill-tempered, abusive individual who worked as town watchman, and was dragged into the political disputes of the Guelphs and Ghibellines. Disappointed but obedient, Rita married him when she was 18, and was the mother of twin sons. She put up with Paolo's abuses for eighteen years before he was ambushed and stabbed to death. Her sons swore vengeance on their father's killers, but through Rita's prayers and interventions, they forgave the offenders. Upon the deaths of her sons, Rita again felt the call to religious life. However, some of the sisters at the Augustinian monastery were relatives of her husband's assassins, and she was denied entry for fear of causing dissension. Asking for the intervention of Saint John the Baptist, Saint Augustin of Hippo, and Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, she managed to bring the warring factions together, not completely, but sufficiently that there was peace, and she was admitted to the monastery of Saint Mary Magdalen at age 36. Rita lived 40 years in the convent, spending her time in prayer and charity, and working for peace in the region. She was devoted to the Passion, and in response to a prayer to suffer as Christ, she received a chronic head wound that appeared to have been caused by a crown of thorns, and which bled for 15 years. Confined to her bed the last four years of her life, eating little more than the Eucharist, teaching and directing the younger sisters. Near the end she had a visitor from her home town who asked if she'd like anything; Rita's only request was a rose from her family's estate. The visitor went to the home, but it being January, knew there was no hope of finding a flower; there, sprouted on an otherwise bare bush, was a single rose blossom. Among the other areas, Rita is well-known as a patron of desperate, seemingly impossible causes and situations. This is because she has been involved in so many stages of life - wife, mother, widow, and nun, she buried her family, helped bring peace to her city, saw her dreams denied and fulfilled - and never lost her faith in God, or her desire to be with Him.

Panda Bears

I've always found Panda Bears to be fascinating, so I thought I'd find out about them a little and share it with you.

A fully grown Giant Panda will reach the height of 5-6 feet, an adult usually weighs about 276 pounds. Panda's are good tree climbers and are most active during the day. They are solitary animals. Giant Panda's eat more of the bamboo's stems and shoots than the leaves.

Admit it, you think they're adorable!

Modest Is Making A Comeback!

I'm always amazed by what I see most women/young girls wearing--I mean how can anyone be comfortable or really feel good about themselves when their chest is falling out of their top, or when their pants are sooooooo low that you can see the strings from their thong underwear? I have worn low cut tops in the past, and spent every moment worrying about whether or not it's too low--I never felt more confident because of it. I think that's what these young girls are led to believe, that dressing immodestly gives you confidence. How sad! It took me awhile but I finally realized that you can still be fashionable while dressing conservatively. If more women really stop and think about it, I'll bet that they too realize that dressing modestly makes them truly feel better about themselves. However, shopping is an issue for me, it's really hard to find appropriate clothing in stores these days so I do a lot of shopping online. Hopefully it will get easier soon!!

2522 Modesty protects the mystery of persons and their love. It encourages patience and moderation in loving relationships; it requires that the conditions for the definitive giving and commitment of man and woman to one another be fulfilled. Modesty is decency. It inspires one's choice of clothing. It keeps silence or reserve where there is evident risk of unhealthy curiosity. It is discreet.

Please read this article: http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080422/HEALTH/80421066/1001/archives

Neuschwanstein Castle

This is definitely on my things to see before I die list. There are beautiful pictures of the castle during the winter, but I think I'd prefer seeing the trees just as they are here. How beautiful!!!

Praying to Saints

Someone just asked me if I can tell them why catholics pray to saints. Well, I'll do my best!!

Do Catholics pray TO saints?
We pray with saints, not to them. Have you ever asked anyone to pray for you when you were having a hard time? Why did you choose to ask that person? You may have chosen someone you could trust, or someone who understood your problem, or someone who was close to God. Those are all reasons we ask saints to pray for us in times of trouble. Since saints led holy lives and are close to God in heaven, we feel that their prayers are particularly effective. Often we ask particular saints to pray for us if we feel they have a particular interest in our problem. For example, many people ask Saint Monica to pray for them if they have trouble with unanswered prayers, because Monica prayed for twenty years for her son to be converted. Finally her prayers were answered in a way she never dreamed of -- her son, Augustine, became a canonized saint and a Doctor of the Church. ~ Sourse: http://www.catholic.org/saints/faq.php

956 The intercession of the saints. "Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness. . . . They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus. . . . So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped."

Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life.
I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth. ~Sourse:http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/956.htm

I hope that some of this helps.

Are you Proud of your Country?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YmWEaqxkGtU

Saint Anne

Mother of Our Lady. Grandmother of Jesus Christ. Wife of Saint Joachim. Probably well off. Tradition says that Anne was quite elderly when Mary was born, and that she was their only child. The belief that Anne remained a virgin in the conception and birth of Mary was condemned by the Vatican in 1677. Believed to have given Mary to the service of the Temple when the girl was three years old. Devotion to her has been popular in the East from the very early days of the Church; widespread devotion in the West began in the 16th century, but many shrines have developed since.

Prayer to Saint Anne

Good Saint Anne, you were especially favored by God to be the mother of the most holy Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Savior. By your power with your most pure daughter and with her divine Son, kindly obtain for us the grace and the favor we now seek. Please secure for us also forgiveness of our past sins, the strength to perform faithfully our daily duties and the help we need to persevere in the love of Jesus and Mary. Amen.

Do Catholics read the Bible???

Why do Protestant's believe that Catholics don't read the Bible, and that they're "encouraged" not to??? I know the Bible was chained down, but doesn't it make sense that something so valued and treasured would need to be. It's not like they had the option of xeroxing hundreds of copies to pass around. In order for the Bible to be accessible to everyone, it needed to be kept in such a way that no one could steel it.


A writing from Pope Leo XIII:

Let all...understand how deeply the sacred books should be esteemed, and with what eagerness and reverence they should approach this great arsenal of heavenly arms...

As St. Jerome says, "To be ignorant of the Scripture is not to know Christ."... "A man who is well grounded in the testimonies of the Scripture is the bulwark of the Church."

So, other than the claim that the Church kept the Bible under lock and key so that no one may read it, how did they come up with that?

Video of the Day

It's amazing that people never hear about this stuff.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DTHOgoGBUkw

Eating Meat on Fridays

I have often wondered what people are taught now days about eating meat on Fridays. My husband and I don't eat meat on Friday all year long. I had been taught that if you chose to eat meat on Fridays then you must give up something else. Unless you have some sort of addiction to something, I don't see how giving something else up would benefit. Remembering not to eat meat is great effort and shows discipline and control. I love potatoes, and I thought I could use that as a replacement but I go a day or two without potatoes all of the time, it would not be that great of an effort/sacrifice. What is so wrong with making a small sacrifice for the BIG Sacrifice He made on Good Friday??

I did some searching and found this link about the topic.

http://www.catholic-pages.com/life/fridaymeat.asp

Modest Wedding Dress

What's the first thing you do when you begin to plan your wedding? That's right you look for a wedding dress. Well if you are looking for something conservative yet attractive you're in for a painfully, almost hopeless search. Or so you might think!! Many people think you need to buy a dress and keep it the way it is. Not so. Find a little dress shop, not a major store, they only sell off the rack. Before you start looking around tell them what you want and make sure they'll work with you, then look through the catalogs, if you see something you'd LOVE to wear but it's too off the shoulders or low cut just discuss the options with the drress maker. That's exactly what I did and the dress was amazing! As for the bridesmaid dresses, I found a picture of what I wanted online and the dress maker made them from scratch. Hope this helps!!!