Raised Catholic...can you tell?: December 2012

Sunday, December 2, 2012

First Sunday of Advent

It's the First Sunday of Advent, the start of the liturgical year for Catholics. In today's world Advent seems to be completely crowded out by Christmas, which appears to start on Thanksgiving night in my neighborhood!

So this year my dear husband created an Advent wreath for our yard, and this morning I put out the first candle. PVC pipe, spray paint, rip-stop nylon, a coat hanger, and some stakes.

I wonder if anyone figured out what they were seeing this morning?

Happy Advent! May this be a special time of preparing for the Incarnation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for you and your loved ones.

A Wife's Prayer

Lord, I come into your presence to say a special prayer for my husband.

Thank you for the blessing of a godly life companion. I pray that You would continue to grow in him a deep and abiding love for You.

Guide him, I pray, as he guides this family; give him wisdom and understanding. Invigorate him with the knowledge of Your grace, and refine him with Your truth.

I pray that I would be a helper, a source of encouragement; and I pray that he would find this home to be a place of rest and refreshment.

Amen.

St. Paul, pray that America follows in your footsteps.

Because our country needs to undergo a great conversion, one as great as the one St. Paul experienced!

Novena Prayer

O glorious St. Paul, after persecuting the Church you became, by God's grace, Her most zealous Apostle. To carry the knowledge of Jesus, our Divine Savior, to the uttermost parts of the earth.

You joyfully endured prison, scourgings, stonings, and a shipwreck, as well as all manner of persecutions, culminating in the shedding of the last drop of your blood for Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Obtain for us the grace to labor strenuously to bring the Faith to others and to accept any trials and tribulations that may come our way. Help us to be inspired by your Epistles and to partake of your indomitable love for Jesus, so that after we have finished our course we may join you in praising Him in heaven for all eternity.

Amen.

Raised Catholic...can you tell?

Sunday, December 9, 2012

the second candle is lit!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

First Sunday of Advent