What a joy it is to have another generation of people in our family. It's not just that my three grandsons are adorable, exceptional, brilliant and funny. (Of course they are, right?)

It's that they enrich our lives so much. At each birthday party Blaise is very helpful in blowing out the candles on the happy-cake, as he calls it. Their perspective, their joy, their humor are sources of great delight for all of us.

Here is Blaise, almost three, learning from Grandpa how to make french toast. Everything is new to the very young, their minds soaking up information like magnificent sponges. They're interested in everything!

The love we have for our children is somehow distinct from the love we have for our grandchildren.. The delight is differently magnified, the devotion intensified, the forbearance increased many fold. The love becomes even more unconditional because, let's face it, raising them is not our responsibility, not our problem.

My job is to love them with all my heart, leaving the hard stuff to their parents.

Only love, no responsibility. It doesn't get much better.

Memorial of Saint Gertrude the Great

Today is the feast of Saint Gertrude of Helfta. Also known as Saint Gertrude the Great, she was a 13th century German Benedictine.

In this month of All Souls it is particularly appropriate that we remember Saint Gertrude. She was a mystic and experienced many visions. In one such vision she saw souls freed from purgatory ascending to heaven like sparks of light.

In another, Jesus told her, "I accept with highest pleasure what is offered to me for the poor souls, for I long inexpressibly to have near me those for whom I paid so great a price. By the prayers of thy loving soul, I am induced to free a prisoner from purgatory as often as thou dost move thy tongue to utter a word of prayer." From: Mission to Empty Purgatory

Saint Gertrude was also given the prayer recited below that Our Lord said would release 1,000 souls every time it is said with love and devotion.

From Our Catholic Prayers:

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.

Saint Gertrude the Great, pray for us and for all our departed family members and loved ones!

Halloween Fun

 Ok, I know many people object to the "celebration" of Halloween and I respect that. For me, the day has always been about family fun, embracing our neighborhood community, indulging children with something they love (CANDY!) and having fun.

I  had the privilege of attending the Halloween festivities at the Ann Arbor Public Library with my daughter and two of my grandsons. Blaise (above) was a train engineer...

And Jude was a cowboy! Are they not adorable? Sorry, can't help myself. It's a grandma thing.

I'm sure I had this silly grin on my face the whole time. Grandchildren are just such a joy!

My daughter-in-law is a youth librarian at Ann Arbor District Library and is she ever good at what she does. The youth librarians put on several skits based on children's books--- SO well done. Then the kids could wander around collecting candy from the library employees. Wonderful family event. The AADL Does a great job on community events like this.

I realized the morning of Halloween that we hadn't even purchased a pumpkin. So I bought one of the few remaining pumpkins at Busch's, which happened to be a pretty large one, and prayed I wouldn't hurt my newly fixed back getting it into and out of the car. (Shoutout to my chiropractic son-in-law Zach Simkins and Foundation Chiropractic) Got it into the house successfully, googled pumpkin stencils and managed to carve this with an hour or two to spare before trick-or-treating. Go blue! Felt pretty proud of myself-- and I DID NOT re-injure my back, thanks be to God!

Happy All Saint Day! All you holy men and women, pray for us!

Saint Jude-- A powerful Intercessor!!

On October 28, we celebrate the feast of Saints Simon and Jude, although this year the feast falls on a Sunday. Saint Jude is the patron of Hope, of things almost despaired of, difficult situations.

Saint Jude Thaddeus was one of the twelve Apostles, the brother of James the Less, and a cousin of Jesus. He preached in Mesopotamia, Libya and Persia with St. Simon where they made many converts. Both were martyred.

Saint Jude is often pictured holding an image of Jesus, the Holy Mandylion of Jesus, the Image of Edessa. King Abagar of Edessa had leprosy and asked Jesus to cure him. He sent an artist to bring him a drawing of the great healer. Jesus was so impressed with the king’s faith that he pressed his face on the cloth and left his image on it. St. Jude then took the cloth to the king and he was cured.

More information on St. Jude can be found HERE.

There have been periods in the history of the church when devotion to St. Jude has waned. Some think this may be because of the similarity of his name to that of the Lord’s betrayer. Even John in his Gospel identifies Jude as “not the Iscariot.” But it seems that God specifically wanted his cousin Jude to be called upon as an intercessor. In visions, both St. Bernard and St. Bridget of Sweden were asked by God to accept St. Jude as the Patron Saint of the Impossible. To Saint Bridget he said, “In accordance with his surname, Thaddeus, the amiable or loving, he will show himself willing to help.” The Lord himself has recommended St. Jude as an intercessor!!!

Has he ever shown himself willing to help.

 Those who ask for his intercession often see miracles.

From my own personal experience I believe he is also a saint with a sense of humor. My husband and I once owned a sailboat that we kept at a marina about an hour from our home. At one point we decided we really needed to sell it. After listing it for some time with no success at all, we decided to ask Saint Jude for help. About a week later a stranger came to our door and asked if we were interested in selling our boat. I looked at him puzzled because the sailboat was not listed locally. How could this man know we had a sailboat for sale? I said, “Our boat?” He said, “Yes, the canoe on the side of your house.” I said, “Oh! Well, I’ll ask my husband. He might want to sell it.”

After closing the door I laughed and looked heavenward. “Saint Jude, I meant the sailboat!” Then I realized Saint Jude knew we meant the sailboat. I felt he was telling me to hold on, that he was working on it. Shortly after selling the canoe, we also sold the sailboat. Thank you, Saint Jude.

How often Saint Jude has helped me. Imagine my delight upon learning that two of my children wanted to name children after Saint Jude. One already has and there may be another!

Baby Jude!

My aunt was extremely devoted to Saint Jude and regularly asked for his intercession. On one occasion her son had been unable to study properly for an important test in high school. My aunt prayed that something would happen to postpone the test. When her son returned home she asked him how the test went. He said that the teacher had fallen ill and the test was postponed. My aunt started laughing and confessed to having appealed to Saint Jude. My cousin was somewhat aghast. “Mom! You have to be careful when you ask Saint Jude for something. I didn’t want the teacher to get sick!”

We had a neighbor who also loved Saint Jude. She told my mom that there was a very real possibility that her husband was going to be transferred to a Muslim country where there were no churches, no Eucharistic Presence. She was a very devout Catholic and horrified at the thought of living without the Presence of the Eucharistic Lord. She appealed to Saint Jude. Not only did her husband not get the position that would have required such a move, he actually lost his job completely.

If you appeal to Saint Jude, know that he may do whatever it takes to answer your prayer!

A novena to Saint Jude could be started on October 19 and conclude on October 27, the day before his feast day. EWTN provides a novena prayer HERE.

Or you could use this simple prayer:

https://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/novena/jude.htm

Do you have a Saint Jude story?

Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer

I saw the movie Gosnell on Friday.

I remember the Gosnell case very well. It was not being covered on regular news, but pro-life news sources were covering it extensively. So when I saw on Twitter a call for a Twitter storm holding the media accountable for ignoring the story, I made a mental note of the time suggested. Pro-lifers were to storm Twitter at a given hour asking why the media was ignoring the trial. Why the media blackout, why were they turning a blind eye to such an important story.

The Twitter storm worked. For that hour, the hashtag "Gosnell" started trending and even climbed pretty high on the list. That night, to his credit, Anderson Cooper spent 15 minutes on the Gosnell story.. He gave it decent coverage. You can view it below.

The following day what had previously been empty reserved media seats in the courtroom were all filled. The story continued to be covered until the verdict. It was an example of how ordinary citizens can use social media to hold journalists accountable for biased decisions regarding coverage. It was widely thought that the story was ignored because it reflected badly on the abortion industry.

The film is very powerful. It doesn't lecture. It doesn't preach. It's the story of the legal case against Kermit Gosnell for murder-- he killed numerous babies after they were born in his clinic. He was also convicted of  numerous health violations.

I was grateful that the filmmakers did not make us see too much blood. There were not a lot of gory photos of aborted fetuses. The words describing what Gosnell did were enough. It was chilling, disturbing. They spared the viewer too many horrific details. The descriptions were more than adequate.

At the end, the audience was very quiet, some people not even wanting to move. Yes, this was about an abortionist who broke the law. In fact he broke many laws. But in many ways what was truly exposed was the reality of what happens in an abortion.

You cannot leave this movie without wincing at the reality of abortion.

You can read a thorough review on nationalreview.com HERE.

A Reunion, Thanks to Facebook

On my recent trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula I had the pleasure of getting together with an old college friend of mine who lives up North and whose home was right along the route we were taking.

It was so much fun. Katy came with her husband whom I had met many years ago and they met Mike and me at a coffeeshop.

I don't know how many years it had been since we had seen each other. She didn't know either. Probably at least 30 years, I imagine.

Katy was the person in my dorm who always had the ready smile, the easy laugh. If you saw Katy in the cafeteria you'd think, Cool. I can sit with Katy. (That was when every dorm at MSU had its own cafeteria and we would eat with our friends. It was great for forming a sense of community. We ate together!)

We caught up on the news of old friends and laughed about old times. Sad to say, a few of our old friends had passed away. Sobering news.

Without Facebook I would not have known where Katy was. We also would not have known anything about our old college friends. Katy had found many of them simply by searching Facebook. For all its flaws, for all the criticism we give it, Facebook does help people to stay in touch. I have many friends with whom I might have lost contact completely were it not for Facebook.

So Katy is my new long lost friend. :-) It was great to see her smiling face again!

The Ann Arbor Hands On Museum

 I had the pleasure recently of going with my daughter and two of my grandsons to the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum. I have been there before, of course, when my own children were young, and it was fun then. But NOW, now it has advanced to a whole new level!

There is climbing equipment for little ones, appropriately sized and challenging.

There is a little fire truck to sit in, complete with costumes and hats...

 For kids of all ages there are giant foam blocks for building...

There is an actual ambulance with its lights flashing for kids to climb inside. In the back non-bloody videos are playing of people being rescued from accidents and put in ambulances...

Kids can sit in the front and drive!

And there are lots of activities with balls. Climbing apparatuses where children can go up steps that follow along tracks where plastic balls are pushed by air pressure. The balls can be grabbed and placed where they will ascend through a vacuum and lots of other fun activities to do with balls. Above my grandson is delighting in the air keeping the balloon afloat.

Water play activities, experiments with sound, investigating GPS technology...And when I went into the ladies room there was a sign that explained the origins of toilet paper. Adults will even learn things here!

Please go to their website HERE. We didn't see anywhere near the whole thing. Check it out! A family membership could make a great Christmas gift for children! And a family membership includes grandparents! Woohoo. Great place to take the grandchildren!

Upper Peninsula Part 3

 In some ways, the upper peninsula feels like a different culture from the lower peninsula. For example, why wouldn't you have deer heads on the wall of a grocery store? Right?

We were told there was a market in town. I thought, great! We'll get some groceries there. But...there were only maybe two aisles like the one pictured above. I saw a free standing freezer case and hoped maybe we could buy some frozen items...only to find it full of clearance flip flops. Oh well. The next day we drove an hour each way to get to a real grocery store, you know, like one with produce, etc.

But there is something very endearing about the simplicity and genuineness of the people and the places in the U.P.

What did we do before airbnb, VRBO, etc.? We found this place on VRBO. (Vacation Rentals By Owner) It was fabulous, a lovely log home with two bathrooms and lots and lots of windows, not to mention the stone fireplace below...

The windows looked out to the forest. Forest our of every window, the views were very calming.

And balconies, so the entire place felt very open and airy.

The bedroom faced all of these windows.

 On clear nights we went out on the balcony. It was so dark you could not see your hand in front of you. Pitch black in the truest sense of the word. It was like being in an interior bathroom with the light out and the door closed. You could not see a thing. And then we would look up to see the most magnificent display of stars you can imagine. SO MANY!!! And the Milky Way right there! In the first 20 seconds or so we saw a shooting star...It was incredible.

And we did not even have to stop star gazing when we went to sleep because this skylight was right above our bed. We could fall asleep star gazing.

Needless to stay we spent a lot of time in the log home, drinking coffee and tea, looking at stars, looking at the forest, talking...

 

We had the internet, which was good because we very often did not have cellular service. But in all the important ways.....we were off the grid.

It was good to be in God's country. And God IS good. All the time.

The Trip to the Upper Peninsula, Part 2

Such a very quiet time we had. Very peaceful. From evening walks on the shore of Lake Superior...

to canoe trips across an inland lake, we were truly away from it all. The cabin we rented was a third of a mile from an inland lake which was separated from Lake Superior by only a high, large sandbar.

By following directions like, "Continue down the path that starts at the dead pine tree....), we finally came upon the canoe which was available for our use. After crossing the lake, we came ashore on this sand bar. It was actually a beach. With no one on it!

We walked along, looking at rocks, enjoying the quiet, the blue sky, and soft lapping water.

It was gorgeous. And it was all ours.

We stayed for quite a while, not wanting to leave such a peaceful, lovely spot.

There was driftwood to sit on, lovely rocks to admire and collect. (We've decided to revisit a childhood hobby of both of ours-- rock polishing. Now we have something to do with all the rocks....)

Of course, an occasional selfie to let the kids know what we were up to...

The next day we took the sunset cruise along Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore....

 Very amazing and beautiful rock formations....

And a waterfall!! There are over 150 waterfalls in the Upper Peninsula. This one is called Spray Falls.

 The colors became more spectacular as the sun set.

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan..The glory of God is all over it....

Trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Last week my husband (of 38 years!) and I spent six days in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

It was lovely, truly lovely. The Upper peninsula borders Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, and Lake Huron, covering over 15,000 square miles. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say it's mostly forest. It gives you an idea of what all of Michigan was once like. The Upper Peninsula is largely wilderness.

There are animals in this forestland: deer, of course, and also bears, moose, wolves, and some cougars. I have to confess to being unusually attentive to my surroundings while in the woods. Certainly did not want to encounter a bear, or a wolf, or a cougar! About 30 or so cougars are confirmed to have been seen in the upper peninsula in the last few decades. They are believed, because of DNA testing, to have come from North or South Dakota. There is no evidence of a breeding population though. It seems the male cougars have come looking to establish new territory but-- bad news, guys-- there are no females. Wrong turn! Better head back west! But if you see a cougar in Michigan, know that they are considered an endangered species here. You cannot harm them, unless in defense of yourself or another person.

Did we see any unusual wildlife? Nope. Just squirrels and chipmunks, pretty much. This despite the fact that we were staying in a log home several miles off the road, in a pretty mature forest.

There were sunsets on the coast of Lake Superior...

Beaches with no one on them..

Tahquamenon Falls...OK, it's not Niagara (as someone once said to me) but these are lovely, powerful waterfalls surrounded by forest. Just beautiful.

More on this trip tomorrow. Suffice it to say-- this is God's country.

The Queenship of 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. (Rv 12:1)

Who is this that comes forth like the dawn, as beautiful as the moon, as resplendent as the sun? (Sg 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) “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.” (franciscanmedia.org)

From: https://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/marya6.htm:

“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, Oh Mary, our heavenly queen, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

Things on My Mind...

Today is the first Feast of Blessed Solanus Casey, Detroit's new saint. Thanks be to God.

My post on the beatification of this holy Capuchin can be found on Catholicmom.com HERE.
What an amazing, holy man he was. Blessed Solanus Casey, pray for us. And, in the words of this saint, "We thank God ahead of time."

On a completely different note, my family was able to welcome probably well over a hundred good neighbors to our home yesterday. So many were curious about what on Earth we were constructing throughout the winter that we decided to show them. It was an Open House for three hours. We were able to talk to neighbors we have known for decades, meet new neighbors and discuss our united opposition to a nearby proposed apartment complex. It was very heartwarming to spend time with people with whom we share such a close geographic proximity. There's really no excuse for not doing it more often. We are neighbors!

And on an even more completely different note, I was alarmed by a Wall Street Journal article today entitled "Red Tide Killing Florida's Sea Turtles.

I have to confess that I never really thought much about sea turtles and the warnings on Florida beaches about disturbing them...until my family had the awe inspiring experience of seeing one six years ago. I described that experience in a blog post linked HERE. I will never forget it. It was an amazing creature and I was ashamed to remember the times I had read the warnings about them and responded with a yeah, yeah attitude, if you know what I mean. I had dismissed them as unimportant and maybe even silly. I was dead wrong. These are absolutely amazing creatures and we are responsible for protecting them as apart of God's creation. To be fair, we are responsible for protecting ALL of God's creation, right?

The following is not my video, but it gives you an idea of what a sea turtle looks like returning to the ocean, after laying eggs.

The red tide is an algae bloom that produces toxic chemicals that affect the central nervous systems of the sea turtles. In four Florida counties "since the start of the year, 287 turtles--dead, sick or injured--have been stranded on the beach. That number is double the five year average for the same period."

Good heavens. Let's do all we can to help these creatures and all endangered species in God's creation. It is our responsibility.

God bless your day...

Finally it's raining here! We haven't had a good rain in so long. Since I planted my flowers, I don't think a day has gone by where I felt that they had been sufficiently watered by nature. So the rain is very welcome. Uh oh. Now the power bumps. My daughter has lost power.

Now it's hailing!!!

OK. It has stopped. As usual, it was a very brief shower, but substantial nonetheless. Finally a day that the flowers have been well watered.

We've had lovely weather here all summer. Lovely for picnics or bike rides, that is. For gardening, not so much. I must be careful to not complain though. One cannot have everything.

#feelinggratefulfortherain

Jordan Peterson calmly dismantles feminism infront of two feminists

Saint Bridget of Sweden-- Today's Memorial

Today is the memorial of Saint Bridget of Sweden. Saint and mystic, St. Bridget had visions of Jesus from the time she was a little girl. Bridget married and became the mother to eight children, one of whom also became a saint, Saint Catherine of Sweden. After her husband died, Bridget formed the Order of the Most Holy Savior, or the Bridgettines.

Jesus revealed to St. Bridget the Twelve Year Prayers with their amazing promises. Learn more about the Twelve Year novena from my previous post at THIS LINK.

Bridget was also given the Seven Sorrows  devotion by Our Blessed Mother. Learn more about those prayers at THIS LINK.

On July 30, we will celebrate the first ever Feast of Blessed Solanus Casey.

The Solanus Casey Center started a novena today that will end the day before the feast day.

Should you like to join the novena you can download the prayers from this link.

If you would like to know more about the life and beatification of Blessed Solanus Casey you can check out my latest article at catholicmom.com from this link.