We are so blessed as a family to have our Hallel here in the U.S. for the year! We each are trying to carve out the time to get there and spend some precious time with her and her wonderful Community of the Lamb. Our family is a first generation Catholic as my parents led us into The Church - all 13 of us about 46 years ago!
http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/the-amazing-story-of-13-becoming.html
http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/my-most-cherished-cross-patrick-gerard.html
A memory from 7 years ago came to me today concerning Hallel's wonderful Community of the Lamb! Although Hallel has taken a vow of chastity and devoted her virginity of her Spouse, Jesus Christ, yet our family has grown by the 100s with her Family of the Lamb and we are so filled with Joy on this journey aided by their prayers and example of Faith!
A story included in The Community of the Lamb Christmas letter 2010 in Kansas City!
"Somebody knocks at the door. It's a man that we often meet and greet in the street.
"Hello sisters! I came because I have something important to tell you. I am Raphael. I am a Jew and I believe that Jesus is the Messiah. You know, before you came here I was afraid to walk down the street; I always carried a knife with me... But now, you know, it changed! When I walk in the street, the people wave at me! I am not afraid any more: I can see the angels on the roof of your house: they watch over the neighborhood! I can feel Peace radiate from your house! This house is a Light House!"
Raphael did not know that the Little Monastery will be named "Lumen Christi" - the Light of Christ... and today I continue to ask the Lord... may the little monastery take root and be planted in the heart of our country, which is so in need of the Light of Christ!
Praying with my parents these days is so powerful and special for me. Dad always prays for The Church as a permanent deacon he and mother have shared morning prayer all these years since his ordination! Over 40 years now... they sit side by side with their well worn Divine Office, and after praying together back and forth... they lift up our family along with the priests, deacons, heads of The Church. I am deeply touched when they pray for the lone religious in our family of 120+! I do pray for more to join her in this personal Call from our Savior! Daily I pray on Hallel's decade of the rosary - #4 as she is my 4th child - that my 15 grandchildren will each ask and consider this wonderful option for their lives with Jesus!
"My two oldest girls sharing worship!" Mom rejoiced out loud! Yes, as mothers we love to share our Faith as a Family... it is the wind beneath my wings! Many prayers, while I am with my parents and when I am home on the farm, for my extended family! When you number over 120 there are many to hold close to your heart and to place in the monstrance with my Lord!
Some special family time shared for Alex... Carol's only son, who had a birthday yesterday! Yes, we are so lucky and surrounded by constant prayer having my parents both here with us and together in their own home! At their age we count each moment of each day as a blessing!
In her year here... she was able to comfort/visit Nancy in the hospital at Thanksgiving when she lost her son, Maximilian. A sad event in our family history, but one which the girls and John experienced as they too lost 2 brothers at 20 weeks - William and Robert!
Such JOY I experience as we share our Faith as a family united in The Church! Such a picture to me of our shared Truth - open to LIFE and raising LIGHTS! Yes, we suffer loss with now 7 children and 4 grandchildren keeping our eyes focused on heaven forever with Jesus, Mary , the Saints and our 11!
Nancy has begun a ministry devoted to Mary, the Mother of us all, and her rosary prayer after meeting Mary at this most painful time at the foot of the Cross!
http://www.dosmallthingswithlove.com/2018/02/mary-is-real-and-she-loves-you-2.html
Sharing Nancy's words from her post:
"And in that silent, dark room, the drugs started to drip in and my body started to slowly, painfully respond. The hours ticked by and we waited, not really knowing what to expect, except that the baby inside of me was dead and that the future we had fallen in love with was never going to be.
The hours we spent waiting for Maximilian to be delivered were some of the darkest I have experienced. I wept until I was completely dehydrated and numb, and yet, in those moments I also received one of the most profound gifts of my life.
I was allowed to experience Mary.
Thanks to all I had been taught growing up Catholic, I knew to call on Mary in my pain. I began to pray the ‘Hail Mary’, aloud and silently, and when that seemed too much, I fell into simply saying her name. “Mary, Mary, Mary,” and as I did, I could feel her presence in that room. She did not come gradually, but suddenly and all at once, as if she had been just waiting for me to call.
Thinking back on those moments I can visualize exactly where she was standing in the room, just to the right of my bed, looking directly at me. I never doubted that she was really there, right there. But more than anything I remember feeling a deep stillness emanating from where she stood. I knew she was there gazing on me with love.
My experience of Mary was really quite simple. There were no bright lights or premonitions or words from heaven. Just a feeling of peace and love, and the comfort of knowing that she was there and she loved me."
Mary is so important to me!!! This fills me with gratitude as she was the Mother to Nancy when I was not able to truly comfort her! That is what Mary fulfills for me in my own life, and I am forever loving having her with me! The rosary has been my lifeline through John's cancer and my own losses, and the shock of being with Maria for her 3rd child, Patrick, born dead and brought back to life!
http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/johns-cancer-stories.html
http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/the-story-of-little-lamb-grandson.html
Jesus, we are given all we need from you and your Bride, The Church! May we give all control over to you as we trust in you. Jesus, we trust in you. Amen
and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him." these words from the beginning of the Gospel today - John 11!!! I think they are speaking about Mary the sister of Lazarus and Jesus raising him from the dead... but to me it also speaks of his Mother and how she has brought millions into The Church in apparition after apparition! She brings us to her Son! My rosary beads are hugely a part of my Adoration prayers! Bless-bless, Barbara Mary Luke
"Turn your eyes incessantly to the Blessed Virgin; she, who is the Mother of Sorrows and also the Mother of Consolation, can understand you completely and help you."
– Pope St. John Paul II
Yes!!!
The prayer taught at #Fatima that we recite during the Holy Rosary. #BecauseFaithMatters
No comments:
Post a Comment