St. Therese

Well, The Little Flower's feast day is tomorrow, don't forget! I will be traveling out of town for my
job, so I hope I can find someplace to attend Mass. And on top of that St . Mother Theodore Guerin's feast day is Wednesday, and I will be away for that too. Sigh.

Oops, and please don't be offended, dear guardian Angel, you know I never forget about you! (October 2nd, I am sure you know).

September the 19th our parish had a lovely Mass in honor of St. Mother Theodore (or St. Theodora Guerin, if you insist--but she will always be Mother Theodore to me). We had a statue installed in our garden, and Archbishop Buechlein came down to celebrate Mass. St. Joseph's in Terre Haute, Indiana (my very own parish), was the first place Mother stopped at the end of her journey--to assist at Mass, before continuing on to the woods across the river that was to become St. Mary's of the Woods and the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Providence in the U.S. So she is very special to us. I was off at work on that day too, but was very much there in spirit!

St. Therese Novena

Boy am I good at coming in on the second or third day of things!! This is day 2 of the Novena for the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux.

Novena to St. Therese

To be Said Each Day:

Come Holy Spirit and fill the heart of the faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of Your Love.


V. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.

R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us Pray: O God, who hast instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that by the gift of that same Holy Spirit we may be ever truly wise and rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Acts of Faith, Hope and Charity

Oh my God, I believe in thee and rejoice in the gift of faith, strengthen this gift in me. All of my hope is in thee, may it always reside there and grow ever stronger. I love thee with all of my poor strength, grant to me and increase of they love, that I may return it to Thee more each day.

Act of Contrition

Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pangs of hell, but even more because you are all good, and worthy of all my love. With true contrition I turn again to you, and resolve that with the help of your grace I firmly resolve to sin no more, and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen

Concluding prayer to be said Each Day

Dear Jesus, you have said that unless we become as little children we will not be able to enter the kingdom of heaven. Grant through your grace that we may learn to follow the way of spiritual childhood of the blessed virgin St. Therese, and through her example of trust and humility come to enjoy forever the glory of your kingdom.

Second Day:

Oh my dear Sister, now that you see Our Dear Savior in heaven, still bearing the wounds He endured for our sins, you know even more vividly the value of souls, and the priceless value of the Most Precious Blood which he willingly shed to save them. As I am one of those children for whom Christ died, obtain for me all the graces that I need to profit by that Precious Blood. Use you great power with Our Divine Lord and pray for me!

Intercede for us always all the days of our lives, but most especially during this Novena, and obtain for us from God all the graces and favors that we ask through your intercession. Amen.

Well, the Fence is Looking Better

....but the pool is still not closed. Did you know that a good power washing can turn an ugly gray privacy fence a beautiful lovely brown color? Thanks to my nephew, I now know this happy fact. I got to play too, and it is a lot of fun using a powerwasher, I must say!

Today the fence! Tomorrow the pool??

Pool Closing Update

Well, it is now well after Labor Day and the pool is not yet closed. This marks the start of my weekend, so I'll have to see what can be done about that. Of course, there is also the yard to be mowed, the house to be powerwashed, the recently chopped done vines to be stump poisoned, the laundry caught up, the.....I think I better stop the list now, or I could get a bit whiny about it, ya think?

And so, of course, with all this to do, I am prioritizing very well, and spending an hour working on my blog, and another hour working on the Rosary website.

Our Lady of Sorrows

This image is one of the most haunting sorrowful Virgins I have ever seen. I don't know who painted it--if anyone knows and can tell me, I would be grateful to know, and to give proper attribution.

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.



the 7 Sorrows of Mary:

1. The prophecy of Simeon.
2. The flight into Egypt.
3. The loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple.
4. Mary meets Jesus carrying His cross.
5. The Crucifixion
6. Mary received the Body of Jesus from the cross
7. The Body of Jesus is placed in a tomb.

One way of praying this devotion is simply to meditate on each sorrowful event while praying a Hail Mary for each.

Two Hearts Network has a lovely Our Lady of Sorrows page that I would encourage you to visit. I found some beautiful prayers there; some I had never seen or heard of before, such as the "Sorrowful Hail Mary", which follows.

The Sorrowful Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of sorrows, the Crucified is with thee; thou art pitiable amongst women, and pitiable is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of the Crucified, implore for us, the crucifiers of thy Son, tears of contrition, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

----approved by Pope Pius IX in 1847

Labor Day

Well, Here it is Labor day---aka "the day after which the pool shall be closed day". Let's see if I can do a more timely job of it this year, shall we? Stand by, and I will keep you posted. This experiment is called accountability (but not very, I guess--as you nonexistent readers are hardly likely to fine me for lackadaisical pool closing).

Today is also the feast of St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church--who did not really invent Gregorian chant. However, he did collect and preserve these chants and also wrote important works on the Mass and the Divine Office.

St. Gregory, pray for us!

Intriguing Facts about Indiana

Since I am from Indiana, I found this interesting. Lots of people do think there isn't much
but corn in Indiana, but now we know better. A friend of mine sent this to me in an email, without
attribution, so---thanks to whomever, and to Beth, as well.




This is a public photo belonging to Dee Johnson
found on flickr. Thanks, Dee for allowing this beautiful photo of
an Indiana barn to be shared.


Facts about Indiana : I'll bet you didn't know......

Tomato juice was first served at a French Lick, Indiana hotel
in 1925.

The first tomato juice factory was also in French Lick, IN.

The world's largest orchid species collection is found at Ball
State University in Muncie , Indiana .

The first regulated speed limit (20 - 25 mph!) was initiated on
Indiana roads in 1921.

An average of 400 funnel clouds are sighted each year in
Indiana.

The city of Gary , Indiana , was built on fill brought from the
bottom of Lake Michigan through suction pipes.

There are only two Adams fireplaces in the United States .
One is in the White House and the other in the Diner Home
in Indiana .

Josie Orr, wife of former Indiana Governor Robert Orr, flew
bombers and cargo planes during World War II.

The Indianapolis Methodist Hospital is the largest Hospital
in the Midwest .

One of the first complete bathrooms in Indianapolis was in
the home of Hoosier poet, James Whitcomb Riley.

The career of Dorothy Lamour (famous for the Bing Crosby-
Bob Hope Road Movies) was launched in Indianapolis .

Aviatrix Amelia Earhart was once a Professor at Purdue
University .

Crown Hill Cemetery ( Indianapolis ) is the largest cemetery
in the U.S.

The library in Fort Wayne , Allen County , Indiana houses
one of the largest genealogy libraries in America .

Wabash, Indiana was the first electrified city in the U.S.

Pendleton, Indiana was the site of the first hanging of a
white man for killing Indians.

The Courthouse roof in Greensburg , Indiana has a tree
growing from it.

The world's first transistor radio was made in Indianapolis .

Clark Gable and wife Carole Lombard (born in Fort Wayne ,
IN) honeymooned at Lake Barbee near Warsaw , Indiana .

The American Beauty Rose was developed at Richmond ,
Indiana .

Elkhart, Indiana is the band instrument capitol of the World.

Frank Sinatra first sang with the Tommy Dorsey band at the
Lyric Theater in Indianapolis .

Purdue Alumnus, Earl Butz, served as the Secretary of
Agriculture.

U.S. 231 is the longest highway in Indiana (231miles).

Johnny Appleseed is buried at Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The singing McGuire Sisters spent their childhood summers
at the Church of God Campground in Anderson , Indiana .

The main station of the Underground Railroad was in
Fountain County, Indiana.

There are 154 acres of sculpture gardens and trails at the
Indianapolis Museum of Art.

La Porte County is the only county in America having 2
functioning courthouses. (I think we can add Vanderburgh
and Elkhart Counties in with that also.)

Nancy Hanks Lincoln is buried in Posey County, Indiana.

Crawfordsville, Indiana ( Montgomery County ) is the only
site in the world where crinoids are found. (What is a crinoid,
you ask? A form of deep-water marine life that looks
something like a starfish.)

Now, dag nab it, I was in Crawfordsfille working just last week! Could I have gone to see some crinoids, I wonder???
Pendleton, Indiana was the site of the 'Fall Creek Massacre'.
A museum housing 3500 artifacts of pioneer heritage now
exists on that site.

St. Meinrad Archabbey is located in Spencer County and is
one of only 2 archabbeys in the U.S. and seven in the world.
(Abbey Press is an operation of the archabbey.)

A Buzz Bomb (German - WWII), believed to be the only one
on public display in the nation, can be found on the Putnam
County Courthouse lawn in Greencastle.

Roberta Turpin Willett was born in Indiana .

Red Skelton was born in Vincennes , Indiana .

May West and Claude Akins were from Bedford , Indiana .

The inventor of the television, Philo T Farnsworth, lived in
Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Forrest Tucker was from Pendleton , Indiana .

You can't ship wine to Indiana . (So how does it get here?)

Bob Greise is from Evansville, Indiana and was quarterback at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN

Toni Tenille (of The Captain and Tenille) is from Indiana .

Oprah Winfrey built her residence in N/W Indiana .

Florence Henderson is from Indiana .

John Mellancamp is a Hoosier and resides in Bloomington .

The much sought-after Hoosier Cabinets are an Indiana
product.

90% of the world's popcorn is grown in Indiana .

The Jackson Five are from Gary , Indiana .

The birthplace of the automobile, the pneumatic rubber tire,
the aluminum casting process, stainless steel and the first
push-button car radio was in Kokomo , Indiana .

Pretty neat, huh? And you thought there was only corn in
Indiana.