General

A Strange Dream About the Blessed Virgin...

First of all, I want to impress upon you, how unusual it is for me to write about something like this.  In 8 years of blogging, I don't think I've ever written about a dream of mine.  But this dream I had recently was so extraordinary, I just felt I had to share it.  I'm going to write this sort of "stream of consciousness."  So here it is, for what it's worth....

Such a community of love we have here, getting ready for her to come, like she said she would.  Such a celebration!  The food, the festivities, the togetherness, comradery.  It is so beautiful and she hasn't even come yet!  But we will be properly prepared for her.  We will give the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of God, the reception she deserves.  We will make it the greatest feast!  But we cannot tell the priests.  They do not know the real reason we are celebrating.  They would laugh at us.  How glorious it will be when we see her!

There is so much to do....we are not ready.  So much still to do!  If things are not right, she may not appear.  I have to try.  I have to get it all right.  We are running so late.  Everyone is gathered around the beautiful area....waiting.  So many people.  But we are not quite ready and suddenly.....

A stillness.  It draws me in.  I stop everything, though I am not ready!  It draws me in.  A great stillness, a great quiet, an extraordinary beauty and peace, such as I have never felt nor comprehended before!  The very air is changed.  It is like...Heaven?  But she is not here.  She does not appear.  Why?  Please come, dear Mother!  She does not come.

Perhaps we have failed.  We were not ready.  We disappointed her.  Why did she not come?  I am saddened.  Such work, such preparation....and for what?  We will make the best of it.  We have all this food!  But she did not come.  I wonder why.

Upon waking from this dream, I still felt the sadness that the Blessed Mother did not appear as she said she would.  I related the dream to my dear husband and do you know what he said?  "She did come. That was the moment of peace and beauty you felt.  But you were so wrapped up in what you thought you had to do, you didn't realize it."

Wow.  Maybe he was right.

Categories, etc......

FYI-in case you haven't figured this out, if you click on any of the categories at the top of each post (for instance, this post has two categories:  "General" and "Spiritual Life"), you will get all posts with that category.  I realize a side-bar with a list of all the categories would be AWESOME!  And how about a "Search" button?  And there are a lot of other improvements we need to make.  The problem is, that I have had difficulty finding the time to do these things and when I do have the time, I have difficulty figuring out HOW to do these things.  It should be easy, right?  This isn't my first blog.  Yes, I agree it should be easy but for some reason, it ISN'T.  I don't want to say bad things about Squarespace-maybe I'm just not smart enough or maybe I'm not paying enough $ to get these deluxe features....I don't know!  Anyway, I want to reassure you that I am working on these improvements and you should see something happening in the coming days.......

I hope.

BTW, do you know what this coming Thursday is???

The 99th Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima! 

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us! 

Dear Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco, pray for us!

I also wanted to mention that my husband and I have, in honor of the feast of Saint Faustina this month, been praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet Novena.  Its also quite appropriate during this Respect Life "Moved by Mercy" Month (see previous post) and in these final days of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.  The Chaplet Novena is such a blessing to pray.  The first time we prayed it, guess what we found out on the final day....That I was pregnant with our son (after a number of "negative" tests), our only child!  (We also visited the Divine Mercy Shrine in Massachusetts on our honeymoon, which was only two months earlier.)  If you are a devout Catholic, this is no surprise to you-you already know that God often gives us these little signs!  CM:)

New Yorkers Will Never Forget....

September 12th-the flag remains at half-mast for the victims of 9/11 at a firehouse in Forest Hills, Queens, NY.

15 years later, someone still remembers the firefighters who gave their lives on that day.  Let us pray for their souls and for their families....and all the victims, including those who continue to live with physical and mental disabilities.  Holy Mother and Dearest Jesus, we lift these intentions to Thee.  Amen.

"Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends." 

John 15:13

Happy Leap Day!

If I ever become a saint, through God's great mercy....just my luck, my feast will probably be on Leap Day.  (budumpum!)

It's like....not a real day, right?  Does that mean we can do whatever we want and it doesn't count?  Like....can I eat ice cream all day and not gain weight?  Can I take the train to the city and spend the day at some posh spa?  When my husband sees $2,000 on the credit card statement, all I have to do is say....it was Leap Day, dude....NOT A REAL DAY....DOESN'T COUNT....NEVER HAPPENED!

Or...maybe Leap Day is a portal to an alternate universe?  Someone should do a movie about that.  Any screenwriters reading....I'll let you take that idea and you don't even have to give me credit! 

Okay, I'm quite finished with my dumb Leap Day jokes.  This is why I did not become a comedienne.  Blessings on this Leap Day....and this week is the half-way point of Lent....our celebrant at Mass yesterday reminded us to take this week to recollect ourselves and ask ourselves (as per the trad Gospel), "Am I divided within myself?"  A good Lenten examination.