Job is Done: Just in time for snow!

Here’s our new creche in our backyard.

I’m so excited about our new creche! As I was planting my spectacular Amaryllis bulbs (you can see the mulch over them in front of the set), I realized there was a very unique spot that I never noticed before, in the exact center of the green wall you can see there. There is a natural clearing and a charming bush which hangs above it. My first thought was, “This is a perfect spot for a creche!” I felt I did not create it, but rather discovered it, after living here for 19 years. This exterior job has been fraught with strange coincidences and remarkable events. The establishment of this Nativity scene seems to be the crowning final blessing of the project.

When I realized I needed a creche, I went online to look for an affordable one. I quickly realized that is a tall order, but found this one on Wayfair. It is small (the St. Joseph statue is 19”), but I am delighted with it. We will pray in front of it as a family on Christmas Eve and give thanks for the incredible transformation of our home in the past 2 months. It has also been a journey of personal transformation. God works in great ways for those who are open to His inspirations!

I had to dig Baby Jesus out of the snow!

You can see some of our beautiful new stone work. Tell me it was worth it. Please!

Now you can see a small part of what was accomplished on our property. I am very pleased with this particular area, which I didn’t even realize would turn out like this, with a perfect new spot for Our Lady. She remains roughly in her original place, under the small tree, which seems to have been placed there long ago, in anticipation of her presence. The statue got pretty dirty over the course of the work and I haven’t had time to clean it yet. Cosmetic things, along with the landscaping, will gradually be worked on through the winter and spring.

I figured out how to cover up the ugly garbage cans with a little blurby thing in the “Paint” program. LOL. Below, Our Lady is crowned with snow, literally one day after the job finished. Another blessing!

Our Lady of the Snows, pray for us!

Update: After 2 months of boot camp, I kinda need a break. Its also Christmastime…I may or may not get something else up before Christmas. After Christmas, we will resume our “Autumn Prepper Rosary Program,” which will now be called “Prepper Rosary Program” for obvious reasons:)

My Christmas wish for my dear readers and the whole Body of Christ, is that we be made strong in all ways for the coming days. This is a glorious time to be alive and we have much work to do!

PS I hope you enjoy the images on this site. Feel free to use them-just say where you got them. Getting pictures from my phone onto this blog in a usable form, involves several steps. Each pic goes from phone to email to “Paint” to file…and finally to blog. During this moving process, they also get cropped, enhanced and re-sized. It is a process, but I do enjoy the creative aspect and have spent much time learning how to do it. I’m always learning more, like how to make a blurby thing to cover up bad stuff!

Update

It’s 8:09 PM and I am sitting here half asleep. I hope to be in bed soon and up at 6:30. It is not unusual these days for me to sleep a great deal because I am so exhausted by the end of the day. This is Week 7 of the exterior reno and it has heated up horribly in the past few days with the neighbors, along with other problems. A relationship with one of the neighbors is probably permanently destroyed and I am trying hard to preserve my relationship with another neighbor, though it requires me to swallow my pride and forgive inappropriate behavior. I don’t think people know the meaning of patience or graciousness anymore. These are the virtues we receive in the sacramental life, that others are without (and boy does it show when people are tested-you find out who your friends really are and aren’t). But I know for a fact that God is watching over us in many ways, that is was His will for us to do this and that it will all be okay in the end.

I was very excited to receive my new outdoor creche today. I immediately unpacked it, cleared a spot for it and set it up. I will post a picture as soon as I get a chance.

God has been working so providentially in my life this past year and I suspect many other have noticed this too. He is consoling us during these terrible times. I was thinking the other day that I need to stay calm in the midst of everything I have to do right now (and it’s Christmastime, though I am a proponent of the minimalist Christmas) and this is what it said on my teabag:

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

Lao Tzu

Just the Man upstairs giving me some encouragement once again! Advent blessings to all:)

December: Month of the Divine Infancy & the Immaculate Conception

“And the Word was made flesh.”

John 1:14

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Blessings to all in this new Church year! We are now several days into Advent. This is the time when we are in waiting for Our Savior, a time to perform appropriate spiritual exercises. If you have arrived at Advent unprepared, try to get it together this week. Certainly, a good confession before Christmas is probably in order for all of us, as our celebrant told us this past Sunday. December is traditionally dedicated to the Divine Infancy or the Immaculate Conception. Of course, we celebrate both great feasts this month. Perhaps our Advent devotions could include one or both of these themes.

This month honors 5 Doctors of the Church, 2 of whom share the same day. Saint Ambrose is known for his writings on devotion to the Blessed Mother. Reading his work this month would be one way to honor the Immaculate Conception. St. Nicholas, popularly associated with Christmas, has his feast on the 6th. In addition to the feast of the Immaculate Conception, 4 days later, we honor Mary under the wonderful title of “Our Lady of Guadalupe.” As if all of this is not enough, we have the Ember Days as well! Time to ramp-up the penance heat, especially in the wake of a dire year for Holy Church. Towards the end of the month, we honor the Holy Innocents-let us remember pro-life intentions as well.

Wishes to my readers for a most blessed Christmas and let us pray for a triumphant New Year in the Church! Here are some notable feasts this month…

4-First Friday / St. John Damascene, Doctor, “Doctor of Christian Art,” “Doctor of the Assumption” / St. Peter Chrysologus, Doctor, “The Golden-Worded”

5-First Saturday

6-2nd Sunday of Advent / St. Nicholas

7-St. Ambrose, Doctor, “Patron of the Veneration of Mary”

8-IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, Patroness of the USA (holy day of obligation before the NWO takeover)

12-Our Lady of Guadalupe

13-3rd Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday / St. Lucy, Patroness of the blind

14-St. John of the Cross, Doctor, “Doctor of Mystical Theology”

16-Ember Wednesday in Advent (prayer and penance, trad meat at one meal)

18-Ember Friday in Advent (prayer and penance)

19-Ember Saturday in Advent (prayer and penance-trad meat at one meal)

20-4th Sunday of Advent

21-St. Thomas, Apostle / St. Peter Canisius, Doctor, “Doctor of the Catechism”

24-Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ

25-NATIVITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST (holy day of obligation before the NWO takeover, solemnity-no Friday penance) / St. Anastasia

26-St. Stephen, Protomartyr, Archdeacon (one of the original 7 deacons ordained by the Apostles)

27-Sunday in the Octave of the Nativity (trad) / The Holy Family / St. John the Evangelist

28-The Holy Innocents

Random Stuff & Yet Another Update

Don’t you love those “Queen of Night” tulips above? They are some of my favorite. Unique and dramatic…

Last week I told you what I’m working on, but it has been a total whirlwind with the house job and we have had a number of bad problems the past few days. That’s the way things are gonna go with a MAJOR job like this. Winter is breathing down our necks and its Thanksgiving week. So I need to ask for continued patience…this is what I am asking of my neighbors as well (just be happy you are not one of them).

If you live in most of the US, it’s getting very late to plants bulbs for the Spring. But…I am doing it this week and taking my chances. I was waiting for the new landscaping to be completed before planting…it’s not completed and I have all these bulbs I spent a lot of money on. We have had a bit of a warm spell in New York, so I’m just doing it. I will mulch them for cold protection-I can also sprinkle holy water on them and pray over them…oh, the benefits of being Catholic! If you are in the south or California, you can plant through December. I know I have a lot of readers in California who may still be planting-here is a great resource to look at: Bulbs: Dig, Drop, Done. If it’s too late for you, think about the wonder of bulbs and you can plan for next year!

“Covid Culture.” Has anyone else come up with this term? I haven’t looked it up, but it seems quite obvious. This is a huge topic that is hard for me to deal with quickly right now. I also have come up with another term: “Age of Separation.” I would simply ask you to pray and meditate on these concepts and see what you come up with. You can always feel free to contact me (button above) and share your thoughts, which I may share.

A dear young priest I know gave an amazing homily recently on “The Four Last Things: Death, Judgement, Heaven, Hell.” He was discussing the reality of Hell and said:

“God will not allow His innocents to spend eternity with their abusers.”

I thought that was very interesting. Bye for now and have a blessed Thanksgiving..and Advent is coming! Please expect my next post next week…

Lesson 4-Prepper Rosary Program

“And there came one of the scribes that had heard them reasoning together, and seeing that he had answered them well, asked him which was the first commandment of all. And Jesus answered him: The first commandment of all is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord thy God is one God. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength. This is the first commandment.”

Mark 12:28

“Be not solicitous therefore, saying, What shall we eat: or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore solicitous for tomorrow; for the morrow will be solicitous for itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.”

Matthew 6:31

Improve Your Spiritual Life ~ The Presentation of Our Lord

It was the Mosaic Law that every firstborn son must be specially consecrated to God. Mary and Joseph brought Our Lord to the Temple to accomplish this, in what we call “The Presentation.” This was a most extraordinary Presentation, since it was the very Son of God, being presented to the Father. This took place in the very city in which He would secure our Redemption on the Cross and was a foreshadowing of this ultimate Presentation. Just as Our Lady and Saint Joseph gave their greatest Gift to the Father, we must also give our very best to Him.

Our Lord states above, “thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength.” This is a profound statement-we are told to completely relinquish ourselves to Him. The key is to recognize when these moments occur and push through them, with the help of His grace. When we do this, we change in a substantial way. We grow. We ascend one step higher to the Kingdom of Heaven. We also become that much further from the world. What prepares us for these moments is a proper moral formation, a good examination of conscience and a good confession. Only then, can we have the ability to know when the spiritual challenge is taking place, pray for guidance and strength, and win our triumph over temptation. We must love Christ above all other loves.

Our Lord also intructs us to, “Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God.” We see the just consequence of sin coming upon the world. We can mitigate this and secure mercy for the world, only by making ourselves worthy. We will be given what we need on earth, only after seeking Heaven. The lower order always follows the higher. As Catholic preppers, we are not obsessed with the needs of this life, we simply accept that the natural business of life is survival, which our present culture has forgotten. We try within reason, and place our trust in God for what we cannot control. And of course we recognize that spiritual preparedness is always our priority.

Mary and Joseph went to the House of God with their precious Son and showed fidelity to His law. This is an example for the Catholic life: to attend Holy Mass and observe Catholic moral law, presenting to the Holy Trinity, our best selves, out of love. There are many other great riches of the Catholic Faith which we can draw upon to improve our spiritual lives. Pray and gravitate towards what resonates with you. To strive for spiritual perfection is the most exciting life and is the true purpose of life. To become a saint is not unreachable, it is what we were created for!

Please read EWTN’s The Presentation of Our Lord. This is beautifully written and very insightful.

“Lesson 4-Part 2” will deal further with Matthew 6:31…

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Pray 1 decade of the Rosary, meditating on the Mystery of The Presentation, for the intention of enlightenment on the issues discussed today…

Our Father + 10 Hail Marys + Glory Be

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Please fill out #4

“15 Points Preparedness Worksheet”

Thank you for participating ~ spread the word!

Image courtesy fggam.org/2014/07/kellys-word-day-72

November: Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory

November is dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory. They are holy because they died in a state of grace, but still must be washed of all remnant of sin. They are in a state of suffering and need our prayers for alleviation and a speedy ascent to the Kingdom of Heaven. How much they desire and appreciate our prayers! Though All Souls Day is not a holy day of obligation, it’s still a wonderful idea to attend mass and offer for these souls, especially your loved ones. You can help make the image above, a reality.

We begin the month with All Saints Day. One thing that separates the saints from others, is their willingness to embrace possibility, rather than shrink from it. This takes great courage because the world continually discourages us from being all we can be. Holiness threatens those in power and their agenda. Right now, this is particularly true in the world.

November also gives us 3 Doctors of the Church and another notable theologian, Saint Gertrude the Great. She was a mystic, best known for the work, The Herald of Divine Love. Benedict XIV gave her the title “Great,” to distinguish her from another St. Gertrude (whom she knew personally) and probably because he thought she was great! She is the only woman saint to bear this title. It is appropriate her feast is in the month of November, since she was greatly dedicated to the souls in purgatory and is often invoked on their behalf.

By the end of this month, we will be in Advent! Let us prepare for our spiritual exercises of Advent and remember those of the Body of Christ, who remain suffering in the afterlife.

BTW, the TAN calendar states that Thanksgiving Day is a new feast. I have been unable to corroborate this in my research. If you have any info, please contact us above. Here are a few notable feasts this month:

1-ALL SAINTS DAY

2-All Souls Day

6-First Friday

7-First Saturday

10-Pope St. Leo the Great, Doctor, “Doctor of the Unity of the Church”

13-St. Francis Cabrini, 20th Century Saint

15-St. Albert the Great, Doctor, “The Universal Doctor”

16-St. Gertrude the Great

21-Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

22-CHRIST KING OF THE UNIVERSE / St. Cecilia, Patroness of Music

24-St. John of the Cross, Doctor, “Doctor of Mystical Theology”

29-First Sunday of ADVENT

30-St. Andrew, Apostle

This blog gives both old and new feasts

Image courtesy https://purgatorysouls.blogspot.com

"Paradigm of the Authentic Life" Concepts

I am working on something I call “Paradigm of the Authentic Life,” which is a codification of the holistic way God meant us to live. The theory is that we were meant to live communally and close to nature. This paradigm I’m working on includes the Catholic life. What makes CF Mathews think she has the answers to such large questions? My first response has to be, “Maybe I don’t.” My second response is, “But…” I am continually drawn to these ideas and feel called to do this. My life experience has prepared me for this work in many ways. But if I don’t start with humility, I run the risk of being a would-be cult leader, and nothing more. Such people return to the dust they came from and history looks upon them with contempt.

Today I wish to share 2 concepts which have been on my mind…

~ Wake Up With the Sunrise ~

Remember the big hair of the 80’s? If you’re my age, you do. It took so long every morning to do our hair (and makeup…and figure out what to wear) in high school, all the girls would get up in the dark. This was always difficult and depressing for me. I finally realized, that was probably because it’s unnatural to wake up in the dark! So…later in life, I became a latebird. Then I felt bad I never saw the sunrise. I am now getting up with the sunrise and it feels wonderful. This weekend, we change the clocks back to Standard Time. In order to keep to my sunrise schedule, I will not get that extra hour:( The Authentic Life requires discipline, but the blessings are worth it.

~ Nature Abhors Perfection ~

We’ve all heard the expression, “Nature abhors a vacuum.” Nature also doesn’t like perfection very much. As soon as it is attained, if it ever is, she sees to it that things immediately go awry again. In fact, our obstinate insistence on “perfection” can cause much more harm than good (look around, that’s all I’m going to say). I am not talking about spiritual perfection, which Our Lord instructed us about. I’m talking about the human desire to control that which cannot truly be controlled. When we speak of the Authentic Life, realism needs to be built into the paradigm. A few weeds in your garden? Many are medicinal. Got your day perfectly planned? Many of life’s best moments are spontaneous and unexpected. Our human definition of “perfection” can create imbalance and that’s another thing nature abhors. Actually, all of these ideas about nature are interrelated.

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Tomorrow starts the “Triduum of Death:” All Hallows Eve, All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Let us rejoice in our Heavenly reward and keep this always before our eyes! Stay tuned for “November: Month of the Holy Souls” and our next Autumn Prepper Rosary Lesson:)

Update

I will tell you why the posting has been delayed. It’s all because an Irish-born young man showed up on our doorstep when he noticed our property looked horrible…

He was doing masonry on another home in the neighborhood and was looking for new clients. My initial reaction was, “I have to blow him off. I’m not ready to do this and he has NO IDEA what he’s getting into. This is a job for industrial professionals.” (We are on a hill and the job is very complicated and very large.) When I noticed he was Irish, I said I’m half Irish and he said he thought I was probably Irish or Italian due to the statue of Our Lady up on the hill. I told him I’m actually both (my Sicilian father would spin in his grave if he ever heard me say I’m Italian). The young man with an Apostolic name, using the term “Our Lady” impressed me and I was hooked…I think you know where this is going!

So I am now engulfed in the management of a complicated, expensive project, that will take several weeks. To say my life is in an upheaval would be…literally accurate. Instead of concrete steps outside my kitchen door, there is now a precarious drop. The steps heading to the driveway are now completely filled with debris. Our cars are parked down the road and the neighbors are getting antsy. Anyway, the dog has been very good but a tad nervous about the jackhammering. A number of difficulties have presented themselves already, so it is constant damage-control. But it’s all gonna be okay because we started the project with a prayer to Saint Joseph-the whole team prayed with me.

I do think these 2 Irish brothers (yes, his brother ran up the steps shortly after him) were sent by God to give us the kick-in-the-pants we needed to get this difficult job done. So I deeply appreciate your patience in the weeks ahead and I will try to keep up with the blog and our “Autumn Prepper Rosary Program” as best as I can. I will try to post within the next few days.

PS Turns out my great-grandmother from Tipperary had the same name as these guys. They said they have family in Tipperary and some relatives had moved to New York in the past. Hmmmmmm. God truly works in amazing ways!

PPS By doing this project, we are knocking off THREE of our “15 Preparedness Points!” (See “Autumn Prepper Program Intro” side button for the full list.) Here they are:

#5 Know opportunity when you see it-even though we were not expecting to do this project this year, we were open to the possibility when it literally came upon our doorstep!

#11 Work on home improvement-self-explanatory.

#15 Address security and self-defense issues-we are addressing security issues by building higher, more secure walls and fencing.

Lesson 3-Prepper Rosary Program

Acquire a Sustainable Skill ~ The Nativity

Another basic prepper tenet, is to be able to function without power. If your entire livelihood depends on power, you will want to think about learning a new skill. Woodworking, sewing, food gardening, weaving, pottery, herbal medicine and fishing, are often thought of as old-fashioned and fewer people are knowledgeable in them. There are also skills many people do still have, which can be considered sustainable, such as landscaping, animal care, massage therapy, alternative medicine, counseling, construction, cooking, child care, teaching, martial arts, hair styling and music. Just as the world entered a new era with the Birth of Christ, humanity at this time, must look toward a new era of life closer to the earth.

Aside from giving us a new potential livelihood, these kinds of skills give us a greater connectedness to our ancestors and to each other. Many of them also make us physically stronger, which is another basic prepper tenet. Acquiring such new abilities draws us closer to nature and what may be called the “authentic life,” living the way God intended. How do you go about it, though? There are so many ways to learn these days. If you can think of it, there is probably a video on it. Check out your community festivals and fairs too, for workshops and networking. Getting the whole family involved can make it even more fun and motivating.

We are living in a profoundly nature-detached society.  This was not the case before the 20th century.  In the past, people lived more self-sufficiently and therefore, were more prepared in general.  This is why the whole concept of preparedness has emerged in recent decades. The New Tech World Order has not only made us less self-reliant, it has polluted the earth and our bodies with unhealthy food, drugs and vaccines. It has absorbed us all into electronics and caused a dangerous dependence on fragile technology and power grids. What most people don’t realize is that this whole mistake was always destined to fall and we are now seeing the beginning of that. As Our Blessed Lord came into the world through the blood of the Holy Innocents, this change will not come easily either. But we are God’s children and we will get through it.

A great birthing is now under way. What an incredibly exciting time to be alive. There is no time for despondency or clinging to the old world. Let us begin to work toward a new world, closer to our Creator, closer to nature and closer to each other. A world of love. A world of joy. We will need to focus on this continually in the coming days. We will decisively need to choose a side. Humanity is now in its Advent, its time of waiting and preparing. We know this new world is coming…as Our Lady of Fatima declared, “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph!”

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Pray 1 decade of the Rosary, meditating on the Mystery of The Nativity, for the intention of enlightenment on the issues discussed today…

Our Father + 10 Hail Marys + Glory Be

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Please fill out #3

“15 Points Preparedness Worksheet”

Thank you for participating ~ spread the word!

Image courtesy awakeningtimes.com

Lesson 2-Prepper Rosary Program

“And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren…And Mary rising up…went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda. And she entered into the house of Zachary, and saluted Elizabeth…And Mary abode with her about three months…Now Elizabeth's full time of being delivered was come, and she brought forth a son.”

Luke 1:36

Extend Yourself to Others ~ The Visitation

The above scripture shows us the loving Immaculate Heart of Our Lady. Immediately following the Annunciation, she flees to the side of her cousin Elizabeth. We can infer the reason she does this, is because she knows Elizabeth is older and needs help in her final days of pregnancy. We are told Mary stays with her for 3 months, right up until she gives birth. What profound humility, for one carrying the Son of God in her own womb, to place herself at the service of another woman with child. Taking Mary’s example, who are you being called to help?

Holy Church gives us the Corporal Works of Mercy, based on the teachings of Christ. This is a good place to start, if seeking to know where you are being called. Gravitate to what resonates with you. Some of us will not have to seek at all, it will be obvious that there is someone close who needs us. But sometimes, these are the ones we are most blind to. How does this relate to preparedness? When we strengthen others, we strengthen ourselves and we are only as strong as the weakest link. Humanity is a fabric of connectedness (which is presently being torn apart) and as they say, “What goes around, comes around.”

It is also important to cultivate relationships with your neighbors. You lend them your leaf-blower this fall, they lend you their snow-blower this winter. That’s not to say we should give with the thought of getting back, but from a prepper point of view, it is pragmatic (and what helps you, helps those in your care). This is the way a healthy community functions. In a crisis, it is much better to work together than to have an “every man for himself” attitude. Resilient, sustainable communities of love are the way of the future.

When we think of others, it always come back to us with great blessings. It makes us happier, healthier and holier. It is also a fundamental part of the Christian life. “With haste,” Mary met the need of Saint Elizabeth. How much more should we sinners, seek to meet the needs of those around us?

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Pray 1 decade of the Rosary, meditating on the Mystery of The Visitation, for the intention of enlightenment on the issues discussed today…

Our Father + 10 Hail Marys + Glory Be

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Please fill out #2

“15 Points Preparedness Worksheet”

Thank you for participating ~ spread the word!

Image courtesy bluearmy.com