Saint Rose of Lima!

Saint Rose of Lima is patron saint of florists, gardeners, the Americas, Latin America, Peru, Philippines, and South America. She was born in 1586 as Isabel del Flores y del Olivia and died at the age of 31.

From https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-rose-of-lima/ we have the following reflection on Saint Rose of Lima and her penances:

It is easy to dismiss excessive penances of the saints as the expression of a certain culture or temperament. But a woman wearing a crown of thorns may at least prod our consciences. We enjoy the most comfort-oriented life in human history. We eat too much, drink too much, use a million gadgets, fill our eyes and ears with everything imaginable. Commerce thrives on creating useless needs on which to spend our money. It seems that when we have become most like slaves, there is the greatest talk of “freedom.” Are we willing to discipline ourselves in such an atmosphere?

Saint Rose of Lima, pray for us.

The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary!

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. (Revelation 12:1)

Who is this that comes forth like the dawn, as beautiful as the moon, as resplendent as the sun? (Song of Songs 6:10)

 On October 11, 1954, on what was then the Feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (later moved to January 1), Pope Pius XII established the Feast of the Queenship of Mary in his encyclical To the Queen of Heaven. It would be celebrated on the octave day of the Assumption, August 22. In the words of Pius XII:

“Mary deserves the title because she is mother of God, closely associated as the New Eve with Jesus’ redemptive work, because of her preeminent perfection and because of her intercessory power.”

While it was a new feast on the liturgical calendar at the time, the honoring of Mary as queen has very deep roots in tradition and Scripture. In the Old Testament the mother of a king had great influence in court. As Von Balthasar wrote, (as quoted in Magnificat magazine)

“A queen enjoys full power, even with regard to the king. Mary’s fullness of power is expressed in her intercession for us and her mediation of graces, so that we receive all personal graces from God.”

Elizabeth, at the Visitation, asked, “Who am I that the mother of my Lord should visit me?” And as early as the fourth century St. Ephrem called Mary “Lady” and “Queen.” And hymns as early as the 11^th and 13^th centuries included “Hail Holy Queen,” “Queen of Heaven,” and “Hail Queen of Heaven.”

“The solidly theological reasons for her title of Queen are expressed splendidly by Pius XII, in his Radiomessage to Fatima, Bendito seja (AAS 38. 266): “He, the Son of God, reflects on His heavenly Mother the glory, the majesty and the dominion of His kingship, for, having been associated to the King of Martyrs in the unspeakable work of human Redemption as Mother and cooperator, she remains forever associated to Him, with a practically unlimited power, in the distribution of the graces which flow from the Redemption. Jesus is King throughout all eternity by nature and by right of conquest: through Him, with Him, and subordinate to Him, Mary is Queen by grace, by divine relationship, by right of conquest, and by singular choice [of the Father]. And her kingdom is as vast as that of her Son and God, since nothing is excluded from her dominion.” (Excerpted and adapted from Theology 523: Our Lady in Doctrine and Devotion, by Father William G. Most.)

Truly, how could the mother of God, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, not be a queen? She is the mother of the eternal King of Kings. St. John Damascene wrote, “When she became mother of the creator, she truly became queen of every creature.”(https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/is-there-a-queen-in-the-kingdom-of-heaven) As the spouse of the Holy Spirit of God she is indeed a queen. As the Lord our God reigns, so must she in both of these capacities.

The Church proclaims Mary’s status as queen in the numerous titles with which we address her:

Queen of Angels, Queen of Heaven, Queen of Prophets, Queen of Apostles, Queen of Martyrs, Queen of Confessors, Queen of Virgins, Queen of All Saints, Queen of the May, Queen of the Universe, Queen of Mercy, Queen of Heaven and Earth, Queen Conceived Without Original Sin, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Queen of Peace…

On the Feast of your Queenship and every day, O Mary, our heavenly queen, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

Sisters!!!

My sister was just here visiting for  about a week.

Today I am missing her. What is it about sisters. Both my sister and my brother can make me laugh harder than about anyone else.

We went to a Pilates class together. We both avoided looking at each other. Why? Because we knew we would start laughing. Fo no reason.

Sometimes just a look between us can make us laugh because we know what the other is thinking. And we know why it's funny. Is it genes? Is it the common upbringing?

We also share many of the same values. We've each been through a lot, some of it shared and some of  it separately. And we understand. We understand each others' virtues and we understand each other's flaws. Yet we still love each other.

Is it the bond of blood, the shared experience? Whatever it is, I'm feeling grateful for my sister and our relationship.

It was a great week.

She's the best sister...

Following Specific Instructions

I wrote about my daughter's Mothers Day gift to me a little over a year ago. You can find that post here. It was a gorgeous orchid.

The blooms lasted a long time and eventually they faded and fell off. The instructions with the plant said, "Water with three ice cubes once a week." Nothing about fertilizing, just an instruction to water like that and place in a location with a lot of light, but not direct sun.

Well, I had a room that gets a lot of light. I did place the orchid on a windowsill that gets a lot of light, mostly indirect, but a brief period of direct light every day. Like maybe an hour, probably less.

I do not have a green thumb, but I can follow directions and I did.

I'm happy to tell you that the photos here are not the picture of the orchid when it was given to me. It is the picture of the orchid now, a year later, after it sat not blooming for over a year. It is loaded with blooms, so much so that it almost looks like it could fall over.

And there are more that have not yet opened.

What an incredibly beautiful flower. I did not have confidence it would bloom again. I just kept watering it because it was alive and it had leaves and my daughter had given it to me. Learn more about orchid care HERE.

My life lesson here? Follow directions, be patient, let the plant have its time. Just do your best. Don't sweat the outcome. Even if it hadn't bloomed again, I would have known that at least I had tried.

What a blessing to see this every morning. God is good. All the time.