Tom and Felix the cat silliness/My dead beckoned me to visit them - All Souls Day/"...we believe that we shall also live with him..." Romans 6

Tom and a stray cat that is like no other I have ever had before.  He is so purry and lovey and meows to get in the house to follow us around and get petted.  11 month old Tom squeals with delight when he sees  him crawling up the kitchen window screen meowing to get our attention.  When he comes in Tom has to push him with his head as he tries to crawl ahead as the cat is circling him.

Yesterday they entertained me with cuteness!  Cat on back and boy...  I should give this cat an official Saint name as he is getting along here fairly well...  St Felix is a good one after I lost a kitten in a snow storm last winter that had been Felix the first.  

Head to head with a bit of a snuggle move.  Felix and cat and Thomas Robert sounds about right.

Cat checking out Tom's cracker in his hand.

Now the other hand...

"Is this your handle?" - the tail hold, but the cat doesn't think it is too hard.

The scruff of the neck, and Tom still has his cracker.

Holding hands - paw and hand - the cat does not use his claws with Tom.

Next we went out on a beautiful day to get the mail...Spending time together after Tom rode to get the mail in the stroller that the cat considers to be his bed at night in the garage.

Now with my little red barn 

thoughtful pose.

Such a happy boy with so many smiles for his old grandma!  

Pet me boy!  

Soft and loving...

Walked through the railing - That made Tom curious of his ability to go out and...

Come back through again.

Cat went back in the stroller just as Tom's mom came to pick him up.  "Bye-bye, Felix the cat till next time!"  

11 groups of 5 +1= 56 funerals here in our church over the last year.  With Ruth and Paul's new place across the street this was interesting to consider - one a week in the largest parish in our diocese.  

2 years ago my father Deacon Robert Cross was included in their ceremony as Fr Denny had visited him some times while he was on hospice in my home for the last 6 months of his life.  So many blessings having him here in my "farm monastery" sharing his religious life with me with morning and evening prayer, and rosary and chaplet on the porch at 3p each day.  I think today we would be blown away!  

After All Souls day mass this morning - I was drawn to the Catholic Cemetery to visit my dearly departed that are there after 44 years of marriage.

We all face the end of our days here on earth, and with Jesus and Mary and the Saints we are called to die to self so that The Holy Spirit may dwell in us and we may be His hands and feet and voice of Truth!  

My two boys that I carried for 20 weeks each after John.   They keep my eyes on heaven to meet them and join them along with the 5 other losses that are there.  7 in heaven and 5 here to share this life with me on earth. 

 I feel their prayers for their old mom, and that is much more how I feel about their being in heaven.  They are definitely souls from the time they were conceived, yet sin is far from them so I consider them at work praying for their old mom!  I must need a lot of prayers!  I do pray for them in the litany of our families and when I pray my rosary daily!

Family Soul Story - Choose Life!: Our marriage stories - "The world needs LIGHTS!" 

Pat's mother and father are both gone.

Pat's mother was 20 years a widow, and was on hospice in her home for her last 2 years!  

John with Godson, David, 6 years ago after he had brought Eucharist to Pat's mother.  Sundays were our family times to visit and share Jesus in Word and Body!  

The Gospel today from John 6 - Jesus said to the crowds:
“Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
For this is the will of my Father,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
may have eternal life,
and I shall raise him on the last day.”  John 6

Pat's brother, Don, who was murdered in Montana almost 30 years ago now.   Many prayers for his journey to heaven.

They are prayed for by me each week as I do the litany of our 250+ from both our families .  First hour of each Monday in front of Jesus in the monstrance - I put them right there with Jesus as I say their names - a new baby this last week and 2 new fiancés!  

I went a few rows over the visit our grandson, Maximilian Bandzuch.  He died 5 years ago this month while we were visiting Nancy and Bill in Shawnee,KS for Thanksgiving.  Nancy was 20 weeks pregnant and his loss was a very difficult shock for them.  We were visiting them - not only did she have a loss like I did, but I was there with her!  As her older sister said - "Who better to be with her mom?"  

Nancy had a personal experience with Mary the Mother of God as she suffered her loss! 

Mary is Real, and She Loves You - Catholic Sprouts 

Growing up Catholic, I have always known about Mary.  But, if I’m going to be totally honest, I didn’t really know her.

I had gathered lots of facts and admired her as I might admire anyone from history that had done remarkable things.

And I enjoyed reading about her apparitions. I was perfectly willing to defend her doctrine and I loved seeing how beautifully she fit into the story of our salvation.

But all these facts and knowledge didn’t make me feel particularly close to her. 

She seemed to be little more than a distant, interesting figure. Despite the fact that at one point in particular I clearly saw Mary at work.

Back in 2009, my little brother has diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer. For a while, things looked pretty bleak.

He endured a biopsy with catastrophic side effects and there was much debate about how to. And if they could, treat him.

Right in the middle of the worst of it all, my youngest sister was scheduled to take her habit and officially join an order of nuns…in France.

Although it was completely crazy, my brother, mother, and I made the trip to France to watch my sister take her habit, wheelchair and all. 

Watching my little sister get her habit was a beautiful, powerful thing. And a few days later, with my sister in full habit and brother supported by a walker, we journeyed to Lourdes. So that John could bathe in the miraculous waters.

(In Lourdes)

Lourdes is an incredible place.

The streets are littered with abandoned wheelchairs and crutches. But the most remarkable sight is the vast crowd of sick people that stream out of the hospital each day to use the baths, each so very hopeful and faithful.

We all had an opportunity to bathe in Lourdes that day. My brother asked that they pour water over his head as well. I felt privileged to visit Lourdes, to bathe.

But I can’t say that what I felt that day went much beyond a feeling of privilege.

(headed into the baths at Lourdes)

We left Lourdes still supporting my very sick brother. He returned home to rounds of chemo and radiation.

He underwent stem cell replacement and an army of people continued to lift him up in prayer.

And in the end, praise be to God, he was healed. It wasn’t instantaneous healing, but it was healing nonetheless.

Against all the odds, my brother’s cancer receded and he is here today, healthy, and planning a wedding this June.

Now, I am very happy about all of this, and I can intellectually see the role Mary played.  She gave John hope, she renewed his faith amid this suffering and, I really believe, she directly interceded for my brother.

After being to Lourdes, I respected Mary and admired her for all she did for those that came and bathed at Lourdes.

I was grateful, I respected her, but I continued to not really know her. And I was far from genuinely loving her.

Life continued on, as it does. I got married, welcomed 4 babies, and was preparing to welcome a 5th.

The 5th pregnancy, as I have shared, was unplanned and a bit hard to accept. And yet, as all parents do, we had fallen in love with that little one. We had thought of names and become quite attached to what we had dreamed life would be like once he was here.

But, at 20 weeks, on Thanksgiving Day, my water broke and the baby, our little Maximilian, was lost.

(20 weeks pregnant with Maximilian, just days before we lost him)

The sudden trauma of a stillborn baby is hard to describe.

While there is the shock of what has happened and the complete reordering of the future, there is also the physical reality of loss.

A reality that requires induction, labor, and delivery.

Simply, it’s awful.

I was ushered up to Labor and Delivery, given a robe and a room, just as I would have if I was there to deliver a full-term, healthy baby.

The doctors and nurses were kind, but they generally just let me be. No need for monitors, there’s no heartbeat anyway. No need for checks or game plans. It’s just a matter of waiting and enduring.

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 at me with love.

My experience with 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.

The weeks and months following the loss of our little Maximilian have been difficult, and I expect more struggles as we attempt to get pregnant and once more open ourselves up to the pain of loss.

But the gift Mary gave me in that hospital room has endured. I no longer feel her presence as strongly as I did that day, but I am left with the knowledge of who she is.

And I can honestly say that I know Mary now. I tasted her love for me.

I was able to touch, for just a few minutes, her tender hand and I know now that those same hands are holding my little Maximilian up in heaven.

The knowledge that Mary is really there has changed everything. I cling to my Rosary and attempt to carry her with me everywhere.

And not just that, it has set me on a mission.

It breaks my heart to think that so many people face pain and suffering without Mary at their side, especially when she is so willing to fly to their side if only they call.

So, I am on a mission to increase Marian’s devotion through the Rosary.

The mission has begun with me. I have committed to a daily Rosary for the rest of my life.

Next, I’m working to build Marian’s devotion in my family. This will be a central focus for us during Lent.

And finally, I’m going to do my part of bringing the whole world to Mary (aim high, right?!?). This has been one of my top prayer intentions and, as a first step, I created a book to help the faithful go a bit deeper while meditating on the Rosary.

Our Lady of the Rosary, Pray for us!

Your sister in Christ,

Nancy

So very many to be with us on this journey every single day!!!  

Maximilian in the infant loss section of our cemetery - we brought him home from Kansas almost 5 years ago now, and Fr Craig did a service for us at the graveside.  Pat and I now have our burial plot right across from our grandson.

God's children - I know that Nancy and Bill and family pray for their 3 losses each night as they gather for their family prayer.  Peter, Maximilian and Catherine included in their litany of Saints each night! 

His father, Bill, wrote today -  "Thank you so much!!  I am so comforted by that image of Our Lady holding and snuggling little Max."  

My prayer while at the cemetery after sharing mass with them this morning.  Armed with the words of St Paul to the Romans in Romans 6 today -  We know that our old self was crucified with him, 

so that our sinful body might be done away with, 
that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.
For a dead person has been absolved from sin.
If, then, we have died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him.  

Romans 6 from mass today!

All Souls Day*

Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed

November 2

*The commemoration of All Souls is rooted in the Church's 
strong conviction that we, the living, have a serious responsibility 
in love to accompany with prayer those who have died but who 
must yet complete the purificatory preparation every human being 
needs to be able to dwell in the all-encompassing love of God. 
(From Magnificat, November 2021, Vol 23, No 9)
www.magnificat.com

 

 

"Eternal Father, I offer You the most precious Blood

of Your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with

the Masses said throughout the world today,

for all the Holy Souls in purgatory.  Amen."

St Gertrude the Great

 

 

"I would go so far as to say that if there was no purgatory, then we would have to invent it, for who would dare say to himself that he was able to stand directly before God. .... (God) can cleanse us in such a way that we are able to be with Him and can stand there in the fullness of life.  Purgatory strips off from one person what is unbearable and from another the inability to bear certain things, so that in each of them a pure heart is revealed, and we can see that we all belong together in one enormous symphony of being." - Pope Benedict XVI

 

LITTLE LITANY OF THE HOLY SOULS

Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.

Holy Souls, Pray for us. For the souls of our families, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of our friends, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of our enemies, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of all pagans, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of all priests, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of all religious, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of the just, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of all sinners, We pray Thee, O God. For the Holy Souls in Purgatory, We pray Thee, O God. For those who have none to pray for them, We pray Thee, O God. O almighty and eternal God, we beg Thee to have mercy on the Holy Souls in Purgatory, especially those for whom we  are bound to pray; and we ask Thee also to listen to the prayers of the Blessed Souls in our behalf. Amen.

 

All Souls Day ~ Jakub Schikaneder (1888)

 

  PRAYER FOR A HAPPY DEATH written by St John Cardinal Newman

O my Lord and Savior, support me in my last hour by the strong arms of Thy sacraments, and the fragrance of Thy consolations. Let Thy absolving words be said over me, and the holy oil sign and seal me; and let your own body be my food, and Thy blood my sprinkling; and let Thy Mother Mary come to me, and my angel whisper peace to me, and Thy glorious saints and my own dear patrons smile on me, that in and through them all I may die as I desire to live, in Thy Church, in Thy faith, and in Thy love. Amen.  

My Jesus, mercy.

 

*MORE on All Souls Day...   Click here: All Souls Day 
Highly recommended:  Purgatory:The Forgotten Church (DVD)

Let us empty purgatory!

 

Remember those, O Lord,

Who in Your peace have died,

Yet may not gain love's high reward

Till love is purified

With You they faced death's night

Sealed with Your victory sign;

Soon may the splendor of Your light

On them forever shine!

  

“Grant, O Lord, that I may experience a reasonable sorrow at the death of those who are dear to me, shedding tears of resignation over our mortal condition, yet soon restraining them by this consoling thought of the faith: that in dying, the faithful have only withdrawn a little from us to go into a better world.
May I not weep as do the pagans who are without hope. I may have reason to be sad, but in my affliction hope will comfort me. With hope so great, it is not fitting, O my God, that Your temple should be in mourning. You dwell there, You who are our Consoler; and You cannot fail in Your promises.” -  St. Augustine

Jesus, we trust in you.  Bless-bless, Barbara and the 54 - 34 with us and 20 in heaven for whom we pray and know of their prayers for us. 

God is in this story

Danielle Rose 

 

Luke is 9, Evangeline is 6, Little Sister Hallel rejoices with the Saints-her Feastday - Hallelujah!/Wearing white robes before the Lamb-unknown saints

I was very touched that Luke would know right where my father's cap was , and ask to borrow it for his military look for Halloween. Today is his 9th birthday and how he lives military!  He brings home books from the library about tanks, war ships, and all things that have to do with the military - and he is a wealth of information as a result!

He asked to go to the Fagen Museum by Granite Falls this weekend again to take in all that is there, and Nancy and her family might meet them there, too.  Cousin time is the best!!!

Grandpa Pat had to pose with Luke in matching cammo 

Luke is my namesake before Birdie Barbara came around.  I chose the patron Saint of St Luke when I entered The Catholic Church as a 20 year old.  I was in nursing school and he is a physician and I love how he gives us so much about Mary the Mother of God, my mother with me on this journey of Faith/Family/Farm! 

In Charlottsville, Virginia - our Evangeline Mary is 6 today, too!  

With her little Sister Maggie Rose this morning and giving some attitude for which she has a reputation in the family.  Her Uncle John called her "sassy pants" and she can be that for sure.  She is always a good companion when I spend some time with them.

She can be very sweet too!  Happy Birthday to both Luke Paul and Evangeline Mary!  Such a special day for your birthday - All Saints Day!  We all are attending mass today - united in The Eucharist!

Danielle Rose - See you in the Eucharist

French toast for birthday breakfast!  

The family dressed up for Halloween 

Nancy's 6 with neighbors in their neighborhood in Delano on a beautiful evening - close to 70 degrees this year!  

Now for All Saints Day today - they have a parade at their Catholic School in Delano- St Maximilian Kolbe.

Gus - Blessed Carlo Acutis, Bernadette - St Cecelia, Josephine - St Gianna Molla, Dominic - St Jose Sanchez del Rio, George is St George, and Gina a Holy Innocent.  Nancy knows and LOVES her Saints!  

Tom was a Marshall Tiger last night - from years past when the whole family was a cheering section!  

Joy was a cheerleader to Tom's tiger!  

Rosie the riveter.  

Big Dave the fox takes over in the kitchen - he loves to help in the kitchen!  We had a family meal at John and Bobb's between trick or treating in their neighborhood.

Piano time is fun! 

"I will sit next to my brother, David the fox."

Turned over the calendar to November today and found this sweet page devoted to our new babies of the last year!  So special!  WE are awaiting a new little one on January of this next year.  Never too many!  Open to LIFE and raising LIGHTS is the motto our domestic Church/family lives by.  My wise husband cleared away all the doubts and fears - "Is it being selfish to have a large family?"  "No, the world needs lights!"  Yes!!!!

Family Soul Story - Choose Life!: Our marriage stories - "The world needs LIGHTS!" 

After we called Charlottsville to sing "Happy Birthday" to Evie, we called The Little Sisters in Kansas City, KS to wish our daughter, Little Sister Hallel a happy blesed Feast day today.  We were all surprised when she took the name, Hallel, when she took her habit and changed her name in August of 2009.  What was that name?  "Hallel and it comes from the word Hallelujah and means that every time someone says my name they are giving God all the praise.  So my Feast day will be All Saints Day when all the Saints in heaven are at the throne singing "Hallelujah to the Lamb that was slain!"

When Pat called we had to leave a message and he said; "This is Pat and Barb and we want to wish Hallel a happy Feast day today!  Hallelujah!"  

 A picture taken in May when Hallel was here for a home visit - with her 4 siblings with their babies.

The first reading from Revelations is a vision in which I can picture my parents and sister, Mary, and brother, Lincoln joining today...After this I had a vision of a great multitude,

which no one could count,
from every nation, race, people, and tongue.
They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,
wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
They cried out in a loud voice:

    “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne,
    and from the Lamb.”

All the angels stood around the throne
and around the elders and the four living creatures.
They prostrated themselves before the throne,
worshiped God, and exclaimed:

    “Amen.  Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving,
        honor, power, and might
        be to our God forever and ever.  Amen.”  Revelations 7

This gives you a true meaning of Hallel!  

In Mid August we helped Maria and family move to their new home in Charlottsville, Virginia.  I had so much fun in the costume room with Evie and the two younger ones.  In honor of her 6th birthday today - I will share some of them now.

LOVE this special window to pose in front of and her brother, Hector, who matched her oppositely!  

That blue veil is a dream and this dress is what she wore yesterday for Halloween.

Dream boat!  

Oh my!!!!  

Maria's 3 wonderful girls in every way!  14 year old Therese, 6 year old Evangeline, and 1 1/2 year old Magdalene Rose.  They also have 4 brothers that are always battling with swords, light sabers and guns.  Evie will get right in there too!  She is tough after being surrounded by brothers on both sides of her.

Luke has tremendous respect for my father, who was a WW2 Veteran.  

There was Rose the Zombie too.

LOVE this today in Dad's Prayer of The Church - Office of Readings by St Bernard!  How I love to consider the JOY and Praise to the highest heavens that it taking place there today and every day!  Of course, I consider my parents Saints with Jesus in heaven - "Unkown Saints" to others, but to me a truth!  

St Bernard - "attaining their glory with wholehearted desire."  

Pope Benedict XVI - how he loves The Church and how much we are given for the journey!  

Now Brother Victor shares that the Crowd surrounding the Lamb is our friends and intercessors!  "God's Family!"  How I long to be forever with Jesus, Mary and The Saints!  Jesus, we trust in you.  Amen and Hallelujah

Evie made me this necklace and bracelet that I wear all the time and feel very loved and blessed by her sweet pretty thoughtful gifts to her old grandma Barb.  I am never alone when I spend time with my military family- I have my Evageline always by my side.  Bless-bless, Barbara and the 54 - 34 here and 20 in heaven with all the Saints today!  

I was able to share today the story of St Barbara with a fellow swim aerobics fellow.  That she was put in a tower by her father because she wanted to marry only Jesus.  From her story we have the fairy tale of Repunzal.

Here is her story - According to the hagiographies,^[4][7] Barbara, the daughter of a rich pagan named Dioscorus, was carefully guarded by her father who kept her locked up in a tower in order to preserve her from the outside world. Having secretly become a Christian, she rejected an offer of marriage that she received through her father.

Before going on a journey, her father commanded that a private bath-house be erected for her use near her dwelling, and during his absence, Barbara had three windows put in it, as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, instead of the two originally intended. When her father returned, she acknowledged herself to be a Christian. Dragged before the prefect of the province, Martinianus, who had her cruelly tortured, Barbara held true to her Christian faith. During the night, the dark prison was bathed in light and new miracles occurred. Every morning, her wounds were healed. Torches that were to be used to burn her went out as soon as they came near her. Finally, she was condemned to death by beheading. Her father himself carried out the death sentence. However, as punishment, he was struck by lightning on the way home and his body was consumed by flame. Barbara was buried by a Christian, Valentinus, and her tomb became the site of miracles. This summary omits picturesque details, supplemented from Old French accounts.^[4]

According to the Golden Legend, her martyrdom took place on December 4 "in the reign of emperor Maximianus and Prefect Marcien" (r. 286–305); the year was given as 267 in the French version edited by Father Harry F. Williams of the Anglican Community of the Resurrection (1975).

 

I have seen statues of St Barbara in the back of the Catholic Church in El Paso on the military base - Fort Bliss!  Always with her tower.

But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom

and will possess it forever - yes, for ever and ever. 

 Daniel 7:18 
____________________

 

Solemnity of All Saints*
November 1
We are called to remember all of the saints,

known and unknown,

whose lives have served as holy examples for us. 

"To become saints means to fulfill completely what we already are, raised to the dignity of God's adopted children in Christ Jesus...” … “This, then, is the meaning of today’s Solemnity:  looking at the shining example of the Saints to reawaken within us the great longing to be like them:  happy to live near God, in His light, in the great family of God’s friends.  Being a Saint means living close to God, to live in His family…” Pope Benedict XVI

 

 

            "Saints of God, perfected in love and victorious over sin, who now enjoy the reward of adoring Our Lord face to face in everlasting JOY and GLORY:

            Be gracious to remember us, flawed and failing,

who still struggle on earth, who kneel here adoring Our Lord

hidden in the tabernacle, who long for the day when we too

will be made like Him and will see Him as He is.

              Gather around us here in His Eucharistic Presence to strengthen us with your prayers

and to enrich our feeble worship

with the mighty chorus of your praise. 

Teach us by your example to love Him above all things,

so that we too may become the pure in heart to see God,

who enjoy with you the eternal blessed fellowship

of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen."

 

Paul Thigpen

From Jesus, We Adore You,

Prayers Before the Blessed Sacrament

 

Image above: Christ Glorified in the Court of Heaven, Fra Angelico - 1428-30

 

 

 

"Make up your mind to become a saint."

St. Maria Mazarello 
__________________________________

 

"Never say, 'What great things the saints do,' but,

'What great things God does in His saints.'"

 St. Philip Neri

__________________________

 

"The saints did not all begin well,
but they all ended well."

 St John Vianney
____________________________

"The saints were as weak as we are;

grace sustained them. 

Why should we doubt that we, too,

will be sustained by grace?"

 Bl Clelia Merloni

____________________

"I mus become a great saint.

My Jesus wants it."

St Bernadette Soubirous

 

 “O blessed souls, who knew so well how to profit

by the gifts of God, and to purchase with this precious ransom

so delectable and enduring a heritage,

tell us how you won through Him such an eternal blessing!

Assist us, since you are so near the Fountainhead.

Draw water for those of us on earth who are perishing with thirst."

St Teresa of Jesus - Exclamations of the Soul to God,13

____________________________________________

Traditionally...

 

During the Octave of All Saints' Day (Nov 1 thru Nov 8)

any of the faithful,

by devoutly visiting a cemetery and praying for the departed,

can obtain a plenary indulgence (each day this is done),

applicable to the poor souls in purgatory,

Danielle Rose - The Saint that is just me

We are all called to be saints!  Lord, help us!  

God in this story