This
/is worth reading again and again and again: A Mother's Work. And the pictures are amazing, too.
Due Date
/Dear Sarah,
Today is the day they told us to expect your birth. Even though I doubted you'd be born on your due date (silly me, I thought you'd be late), this was the day we shared when people asked about you. This was the day fixed in my mind and in my prayers. Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. We celebrated this feast gloriously last year. We visited the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. We prayed for a baby. And at the end of every one of the many, many prayers we said, we asked it to be granted if it were "for the glory of God and the good of our souls." Oh, how good you've been for our souls! How much we love you, my dear sweet one. How many, many graces we've received since this day last year.
Our Lady made her presence known at your birth. And she was with us every day before and after that one. I am a pretty possessive mama in the first few weeks of all my babies' lives. With you, I've been even more so. I never imagined having six weeks to get to know you before your due date. You were so very tiny when I first held you. Truthfully, you didn't much want to be held in those first days and my heart broke while my arms were empty. I missed you so much! It seemed like an eternity, but it really wasn't long until we were inseparable again, just as we'd been when you were tucked up inside of me.
Only this way, I got to see your face. I got to follow the curve of your tiny ears with my fingers. I felt you wrap your little hands around my pinky.When I saw those fleeting little "angel smiles," I'm sure I caught a glimpse of dimples. I can hardly wait until you laugh for real. It's just now December and already you have imprinted yourself on my heart. Sarah, when I tell you that I held you for the first three weeks we were home, I mean that every single night, I slept with you draped across my chest, feeling your every breath and thanking God with every soft sigh and sweet whisper. I never put you down.
In the past week, I've relented and let some other folks hold you. After all, you have a whole host of brothers and sisters who have been waiting to inhale your goodness, too. We do some silly things around here. We sing you silly songs, all with made up lyrics. We dance with you. We take more pictures than the Hollywood paparazzi. The big kids download all your "favorite" songs from iTunes and make you your very own CD for the car. Who knew you had favorites? They swear this CD is the one to calm you. You don't go very far in the car. The doctors have warned us to keep you away from crowds. So, we drop off at ballet and soccer and basketball and church. You and I, we don't go inside. Instead, we hunker down at home together. The extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist come to visit every week. They prayed for you before you were born and they, too, are in awe of your newborn beauty. They have been so kind to us and it is such a joy to share you with them, however briefly, on Sunday mornings.
We won't go to the shrine today and it does make me sad. We cannot take the chance that there are germs there that would bring harm to your fragile lungs. I wish I could show you the mosaics, the statues, the chapel of the Miraculous Medal. I wish I could celebrate the Mass with you and hold you in that beautiful place where you were but a prayer last year. I wish we could go together and just say "thank you." Your Daddy will go for us. His heart is just as full as mine. It will spill over, no doubt, in that place we both love so much.
This is not your birthday, but I have a sense that this day--this glorious feast--will always be a very special one for you and me. I look forward to a lifetime of celebrating with you.
Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe
/Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe (repost)
Yes! Another novena. This one is my favorite novena to Our Lady of
Guadalupe. Her feast is December 12th. Isn't the beginning of Advent
rich? In our family, we are praying the Novena before the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
and we will add this one, too.I find that candles lit for the novenas
help to capture the children's attention and these prayers are not so
very long. My children seem very happy to be drawn into the season of
feasts. So, there will be overlapping novenas. The St. Andrew Prayer in
Anticipation of Christmas (on the righthand sidebar) will be prayed
throughout Advent, drawing us every day into the very hour and moment
of Christ's birth. It's the beginning of the liturgical year and a
beautiful time of preparation in the Church. I find these particular
prayers to be especially beneficial in creating a spirit of intention
in our home. What does God intend for us? How does He intend us to
direct our thoughts? To spend our time.I am particularly grateful for
the deliberate attention to Mary, the Mother of God. I have written before about the way that I use the word "ladylike."
It is my dearest desire to be so like Our Lady that I, too, carry
Christ within my very being. Novenas in honor Our Lady draw us closer
to her spirit and help us to infuse our souls with her sweetness. I do
so love this one!
First Day
Dearest Lady of Guadalupe, fruitful Mother of holiness, teach me your
ways of gentleness and strength. Hear my humble prayer offered with
heartfelt confidence to beg this favor......
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory.
First Day
Second Day
O
Mary, conceived without sin, I come to your throne of grace to share
the fervent devotion of your faithful Mexican children who call to you
under the glorious Aztec title of Guadalupe. Obtain for me a lively
faith to do your Son’s holy will always: May His will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory.
Third Day
O
Mary, whose Immaculate Heart was pierced by seven swords of grief, help
me to walk valiantly amid the sharp thorns strewn across my pathway.
Obtain for me the strength to be a true imitator of you. This I ask
you, my dear Mother. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory.
Fourth Day
Dearest
Mother of Guadalupe, I beg you for a fortified will to imitate your
divine Son’s charity, to always seek the good of others in need. Grant
me this, I humbly ask of you.Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory.
Fifth Day
O
most holy Mother, I beg you to obtain for me pardon of all my sins,
abundant graces to serve your Son more faithfully from now on, and
lastly, the grace to praise Him with you forever in heaven.Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory.
Sixth Day
Mary,
Mother of vocations, multiply priestly vocations and fill the earth
with religious houses which will be light and warmth for the world,
safety in stormy nights. Beg your Son to send us many priests and
religious. This we ask of you, O Mother.Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory.
Seventh Day
O
Lady of Guadalupe, we beg you that parents live a holy life and educate
their children in a Christian manner; that children obey and follow the
directions of their parents; that all members of the family pray and
worship together. This we ask of you, O Mother.Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory.
Eighth Day
With
my heart full of the most sincere veneration, I prostrate myself before
you, O Mother, to ask you to obtain for me the grace to fulfill the
duties of my state in life with faithfulness and constancy.Our father, Hail Mary, Glory.
Ninth Day
O
God, You have been pleased to bestow upon us unceasing favors by having
placed us under the special protection of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.
Grant us, your humble servants, who rejoice in honoring her today upon
earth, the happiness of seeing her face to face in heaven.Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory.
