Well, we are overjoyed to know that in two days there will be a new brother to welcome with Joy, now 4 to become a big sister for the first time! How we are overjoyed to add new life to our domestic Church/family as it makes our love grow more and more with each new LIGHT into the world!
Swimming in the hot tub is part of her happy times here! She keeps her swimsuit hanging on the doorknob of our bathroom for her visits. Felix was just watching her from the edge, and that makes her giggle!
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Joy brought her special blanket and the kittens thought it was snuggly for a nap, and she can reach out and pat them lovingly while they watch public TV.
The readings today were deep and difficult on many levels - first from 2 Macabees of a mother losing 7 sons as they would not go against their Jewish faith, and were condemned to death. Martyrs for the Faith! The Gospel was the parable of the King, who took the gold coin from the one, who just put it in a safe place to return it to him, and gave it to the one, who had made 10 gold coins with the one he was given - Luke 19:11-28
Our Lady and the sunset last evening... I would rather focus on the beautiful words of the Psalm for today at mass... Psalm 17
Responsorial Psalm 17:1bcd, 5-6, 8b and 15
R. (15b) Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Hear, O LORD, a just suit;
attend to my outcry;
hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
My steps have been steadfast in your paths,
my feet have not faltered.
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my word.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings.
But I in justice shall behold your face;
on waking, I shall be content in your presence.
R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
How Joy smiles when she hears her name in Church most Sundays! Today that smile would have been megawatt!! Such a wonderful song of Praise to Our Lord! "My Joy will be full" indeed!
Elizabeth recognized and loved Christ in the poor
From this time onward Elizabeth’s goodness greatly increased. She was a lifelong friend of the poor and gave herself entirely to relieving the hungry. She ordered that one of her castles should be converted into a hospital in which she gathered many of the weak and feeble. She generously gave alms to all who were in need, not only in that place but in all the territories of her husband’s empire. She spent all her own revenue from her husband’s four principalities, and finally she sold her luxurious possessions and rich clothes for the sake of the poor.
Twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, Elizabeth went to visit the sick. She personally cared for those who were particularly repulsive; to some she gave food, to others clothing; some she carried on her own shoulders, and performed many other kindly services. Her husband, of happy memory, gladly approved of these charitable works. Finally, when her husband died, she sought the highest perfection; filled with tears, she implored me to let her beg for alms from door to door.
On Good Friday of that year, when the altars had been stripped, she laid her hands on the altar in a chapel in her own town, where she had established the Friars Minor, and before witnesses she voluntarily renounced all worldly display and everything that our Savior in the gospel advises us to abandon. Even then she saw that she could still be distracted by the cares and worldly glory which had surrounded her while her husband was alive. Against my will she followed me to Marburg. Here in the town she built a hospice where she gathered together the weak and the feeble. There she attended the most wretched and contemptible at her own table.
Apart from those active good works, I declare before God that I have seldom seen a more contemplative woman. When she was coming from private prayer, some religious men and women often saw her face shining marvelously and light coming from her eyes like the rays of the sun.
Before her death I heard her confession. When I asked what should be done about her goods and possessions, she replied that anything which seemed to be hers belonged to the poor. She asked me to distribute everything except one worn out dress in which she wished to be buried. When all this had been decided, she received the body of our Lord. Afterward, until vespers, she spoke often of the holiest things she had heard in sermons. Then, she devoutly commended to God all who were sitting near her, and as if falling into a gentle sleep, she died.
Once again today there is too much to share... I am soon to hit the road with hubby to go to Brookings, so I am needing to share this wonderful letter we received from our University of Mary! Our two oldest daughters, Ruth and Nancy attended college there in Bismarck, ND! Ruth became a nurse and Nancy a teacher! I call it Farm and Ranch and Catholic, which makes it unique indeed!
This letter is by Monsignor Shea, the president of the University, and it is a very moving story of a professor, who was converted by finding a place that was "authentically and unapologetically Catholic."
I hope that this blessed you with Truth and HOPE as it did for me!
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"Elizabeth recognised and loved Christ in the poor. ... She was a lifelong friend of the poor and gave herself entirely to relieving the hungry. She ordered that one of her castles should be converted into a hospital in which she gathered many of the weak and feeble. She generously gave alms to all who were in need, not only in that place but in all the territories of her husband’s empire. ...
Danielle Rose amazes!!!Emmaus - Steve Green
From this time onward Elizabeth’s goodness greatly increased. She was a lifelong friend of the poor and gave herself entirely to relieving the hungry. She ordered that one of her castles should be converted into a hospital in which she gathered many of the weak and feeble. She generously gave alms to all who were in need, not only in that place but in all the territories of her husband’s empire. She spent all her own revenue from her husband’s four principalities, and finally she sold her luxurious possessions and rich clothes for the sake of the poor.
Twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, Elizabeth went to visit the sick. She personally cared for those who were particularly repulsive; to some she gave food, to others clothing; some she carried on her own shoulders, and performed many other kindly services. Her husband, of happy memory, gladly approved of these charitable works. Finally, when her husband died, she sought the highest perfection; filled with tears, she implored me to let her beg for alms from door to door.
On Good Friday of that year, when the altars had been stripped, she laid her hands on the altar in a chapel in her own town, where she had established the Friars Minor, and before witnesses she voluntarily renounced all worldly display and everything that our Savior in the gospel advises us to abandon. Even then she saw that she could still be distracted by the cares and worldly glory which had surrounded her while her husband was alive. Against my will she followed me to Marburg. Here in the town she built a hospice where she gathered together the weak and the feeble. There she attended the most wretched and contemptible at her own table.
Apart from those active good works, I declare before God that I have seldom seen a more contemplative woman. When she was coming from private prayer, some religious men and women often saw her face shining marvelously and light coming from her eyes like the rays of the sun.
Before her death I heard her confession. When I asked what should be done about her goods and possessions, she replied that anything which seemed to be hers belonged to the poor. She asked me to distribute everything except one worn out dress in which she wished to be buried. When all this had been decided, she received the body of our Lord. Afterward, until vespers, she spoke often of the holiest things she had heard in sermons. Then, she devoutly commended to God all who were sitting near her, and as if falling into a gentle sleep, she died.
I understand that this might be challenging to follow, but it is soooo goooood!!!
Lord, how we love you and your glorious Bride, the Church! We love it all with no reservations! We are truly "authentically and unapologetically Catholic"! Joy abounds with all that we are given with each new day to help us on our journey down the narrow path to heaven forever with Our Lord and Lady, and St Elizabeth and Blessed Solanus! Jesus, we trust in you. Amen and Hallelujah
Blessed Solanus is so big for us!! A relic we have since John's brain cancer - now graces my home! How we love The Saints with us on this amazing journey of Faith/Family/Farm! Bless-bless, Barbara
St Elizabeth of Hungary, when as a little girl
used to play about the palace with her companions,
would always pick a spot near the chapel so that
every now and then, without being noticed, she might
stop by the chapel door, kiss the lock, and say to Jesus,
"My Jesus, I am playing, but I am not forgetting You.
Bless me and my companions. Goodbye."
St Elizabeth of Hungary
Hungary ~ 1207-1231
Wife, mother
Secular Franciscan Order
Feast Day - November 17
Hungary ~ 1207-1231
Wife, mother
Secular Franciscan Order
Feast Day - November 17
The Charity of St. Elizabeth of Hungary by Edmund Blair Leighton (1895)
"How could I bear a crown of gold when the Lord
bears a crown of thorns? And bears it for me!"
"How could I bear a crown of gold when the Lord
bears a crown of thorns? And bears it for me!"
St Elizabeth of Hungary
(Trailer for feature length DVD)
________________________________
From a letter of Conrad of Marburg, St Elizabeth's spiritual director:
"Elizabeth recognised and loved Christ in the poor. ... She was a lifelong friend of the poor and gave herself entirely to relieving the hungry. She ordered that one of her castles should be converted into a hospital in which she gathered many of the weak and feeble. She generously gave alms to all who were in need, not only in that place but in all the territories of her husband’s empire. ...
Twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, Elizabeth went to visit the sick. She personally cared for those who were particularly repulsive; to some she gave food, to others clothing; some she carried on her own shoulders, and performed many other kindly services. Her husband, of happy memory, gladly approved of these charitable works. ...
Apart from those active good works, I declare before God that I have seldom seen a more contemplative woman. When she was coming from private prayer, some religious men and women often saw her face shining marvelously and light coming from her eyes like the rays of the sun. ...
Before her death I heard her confession. When I asked what should be done about her goods and possessions, she replied that anything which seemed to be hers belonged to the poor. She asked me to distribute everything except one worn out dress in which she wished to be buried. When all this had been decided, she received the Body of our Lord. Afterward, until vespers, she spoke often of the holiest things she had heard in sermons. Then, she devoutly commended to God all who were sitting near her, and as if falling into a gentle sleep, she died."
Continuing in a series of descriptions of the great female figures of the Middle Ages, Pope Benedict XVI (October 21, 2010) spoke of this princess who shows how a life of "faith and friendship with Christ creates a sense of justice, equality of all, of the rights of others... which creates love, charity ... and from this comes the hope and certainty that we are loved by Christ and the love of Christ awaits us, and so enables us to imitate Christ, to see Christ in others. Saint Elizabeth invites us to find Christ, love Christ, have faith and so find true justice, love and joy that one day we will be immersed in God's love."
St Elizabeth of Hungary, pray for us!
St Elizabeth pray for us!
Danielle Rose amazes!!!
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