Preparing for the Feast of St. Therese

~repost, because that's what we can do with traditions.

If you've ever been to my house, chances are excellent to 100% that you have seen one of these prayer cards laying around. I ordered them in bulk when Karoline Rose was born to include in her birth announcements. And I've ordered more every year since. The rose novena is most definitely how we begin to prepare for the feast of this saint, who is so, so dear to our family. Karoline's name, of course is a tribute to St. Therese's promise to shower roses upon the earth and Karoline tells everyone she knows that she is, indeed, a rose sent from heaven. Katie was baptized Kirsten Therese, so she, too, is named for St. Therese. And there is lots of evidence of her presence on this blog because there is lots of evidence of her presence in our lives as a family.

We will go to Mass, of course, to celebrate with the Universal Church. There will be roses. Michael is Katie's godfather and buys her miniature roses ("Little Flowers") on this day--just as long as I remind him;-). For this year, the girls are all abuzz about this pan, I purchased last summer. So, a rose-shaped cake. But I'm still not sure what the recipe will be. Any suggestions would be most welcomed in my inbox. Extra points if you have a grain freen recipe that works in a pan like this. It's a season for miracles, no?

One of Trish's candles (in that amazing St. Therese rose scent) will be lit before the icon. Mary Beth took Therese as her confirmation name and Patrick's godmother blessed her with this beautiful image.

 

I have learned over time that this is one feast I do not overplan, despite the fact that it is huge day in our family. St. Therese has a history of showering us with her love in most unexpected ways.

The novena begins September 23, to prepare for the October 1st feast.

*September 23 is the feast of our favorite Capuchin, St. Padre Pio. In our house, that means cappucino all around:-)

Lord, Hear Our Prayer

The internet is a formidable force for bringing the comfort and consolation and hope of the Lord to all of us. It can be an incredibily powerful medium for community. There is an unfathomable resource for prayer here. We have on the 'net the privilege of praying for people and of being witness to the miracles brought forth when fervent, faith-filled people pray for one another.

Let's be that community of hope and faith for one another.

How about this idea? What if I pop in here every weekend, share Sunday's gospel and talk a wee bit about how we can live it and pray it in our homes? And then you tell me how we can pray for you that week? Deal?

{And please, do return and let us know how prayer is bearing fruit.}

Gospel 

Mark 9:30-37

Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee,
but he did not wish anyone to know about it.
He was teaching his disciples and telling them,
"The Son of Man is to be handed over to men
and they will kill him,
and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise."
But they did not understand the saying,
and they were afraid to question him.

They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house,
he began to ask them,
"What were you arguing about on the way?"
But they remained silent.
They had been discussing among themselves on the way
who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
"If anyone wishes to be first,
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all."
Taking a child, he placed it in the their midst,
and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
"Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me,
receives not me but the One who sent me."

Think

How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers.

~Blessed Mother Teresa

Pray

Lord, let me remember always that when I take the children into my arms, I embrace you. Help me to see You in them and to treat them as I would the child Jesus. 

Act

Hug your kids. All of them.

Hug someone else's kids, too. And mean it.

Really, really mean it.

With my Heart in San Francisco

If you're growing weary of my travelogue, I do apologize. I think my parents are enjoying it and I know Mike is loving it, so I plan to continue to work my way through my pictures and add words as I go.

We reluctantly left Napa and headed back into San Francisco. This is a city that MIke knows well. It occurred to me more than once how his frequent traveling was blessing our time together. Beyond the obvious frequent flyer, car, and hotel points (and those were huge), he knows how to travel well. I just followed his lead. 

On our way in, we wound up a mountain and then pulled over. Mike wanted me to look from that height across to the Golden Gate Bridge. And I did. That might not be a big deal to some people, but I have a serious fear of heights and this trip was all about conquering that impediment. Pretty amazing view. I'm glad we stopped. I'm really glad I got out of the car. 

We went to lunch at The Slanted Door, a Vietnamese restaurant that overlooks San Francisco Bay. What a view! Just an aside, we had an interesting conversation about gray hair. We'd noticed that many of our servers were our age or older and all of the women had naturally gray hair. And all of them were really very pretty. So, I extended my people-watching on the topic of gray and looked around. I think leaving one's hair gray is more acceptable in the west? Am I wrong here? I notice new grays every day and I'm not inclined to color. Mike and I made a deal that if he gets to thinking it looks like steel wool, he'll let me know pronto.

After lunch, we walked around a bit and headed to our hotel. There, I changed into some serious athletic walking shoes. They were a last minute gift from Patrick--our resident Mr. Nike-- and I'm so glad I tossed them in my suitcase. We walked. And walked. And walked. It was glorious. I'm not a city person at all, but a city like this could change my mind. Walking it was the perfect way to experience it. And all those significantly steep hills? The better to work up an appetite for amazing food.

We walked from the hotel down to the wharf where the sea lions bask in the sun. The sea lion picture was a must for Nicky, but it's the worst of the trip (sorry). We meandered a little around the shops at the pier and then looked up towards a steeple. Then, we just started walking that way. Straight up, it seemed. Mike kept asking if I wanted to take a cab. I most definitely did not. I had been working out and eating Paleo for months to get ready for this trip. Bring on the hills!

The church was St. Peter and Paul. It was open and we went in to admire its majesty. There was a group there and I felt out of place and awkward, so we didn't stay long. We started walking again.

This time, we walked through Chinatown and into the financial district and to Old St. Mary's. We arrived at 6:00. Just in time for Vespers. Only the church was locked up tight. 

So we walked again. I thought it would be fun to visit St. Francis parish in San Francisco. It looked nice from the outside. Locked up, too. What's up with the locked up churches in California?

From there, we walked Nob Hill, stopped at a sushi restaurant to buy takeout for dinner and then threaded our way back from whence we came. Downhill. Awesome.

The next morning, I got up and out early, by myself no less-- in the big city. I found Starbucks using the app on my phone and walked a whole block alone:-).  Then we took a little spin around Lombard Street. Oh, my!

We left the city pretty early in the day. Mike had big plans. Big, big, gigantic plans. 

More later.

needle & thREAD

I'm finding my sewing rhythm again. I've picked out a few hours in the week that I can predictably sit in front of the sewing machine. That's a really good thing:-). This week, I made the Oliver + S Picnic Blouse in a Sandi Henderson floral from my stash. I made the 6 for Karoline. All her other Oliver + S clothes are 5s, but I wanted this one to fit until next summer. The sleeves are more like elbow-length sleeves on her than 3/4 length. Silly me, I should have had her try it on before I hemmed. Other than that, it's just as I'd hoped. It will work as a good layering shirt over a long-sleeved t-shirt or turtleneck when things turn cold. Karoline loves it and Sarah has already requested one. My sewing to-do list has grown quite long all of a sudden. Another needle &thREADer suggested that this pattern could easily be lengthened into a dress. I can see that in my near future.

At the suggestion of a friend to whom I confided my deep and earnest desire to live my life outside and turn my suburban half-acre into a farm, I have begun to read The Backyard Homestead. And the dreaming for spring begins anew:-). This time, those dreams will have concrete plans attached to them.

 

Does autumn call you into your sewing space? Are you thinking flannel pjs or cozy quilts? Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo (or more) and a brief description of what you're up to? Will you tell us about what you're reading, also? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and thREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and thREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-)

A Ridiculously Long Yarn Along

~California Car Knitting~

Hello, there! I haven't yarned along in a long, long while. It's good to be knitting again. In a most encouraging note, Beth observed that the old ladies at the quilting store and the yarn shop have gnarled arthritic hands. And still, they create their art with them. (Seriously, Beth herself is such an inspiration. She knits and quilts and trains for a  triathalons--all with arthritis.). So, I'm knitting. It hurts in the beginning and I can't go for very long at at all, but I'm doing it. 

I started a much bigger version of this shawl while in California. I chose the yarn ahead of time--a Pakucho cotton in Forest. Pakucho cotton is 100% organically grown in Peru by rural artisan and Indian farmers, using sustainable methods, on small farmyard plots. And it's entirely fair trade. But, wait! There's more. It's not dyed. It's naturally colored yarn that grows in eight earthy colors. Colored cotton has grown in Peru for 4,500 years but it's recently been revived. Intrigued? Read all about it here.

The poet in me was pretty thrilled when my yarn perfectly captured my impression of the hues of California's landscape. It's a lovely gray-green-with-a-touch-of-brown.

I've made a little--just a little- progress on it since arriving home. I'm still settling into a workable fall routine and part of that is seeing where my knitting pockets are. I finished reading Interrupted on the trip. I have to admit that I was very inspired by  7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess and very bothered by Interrupted. [Caveat: among the heavy influences listed in Interrupted was Richard Rohr.]. What bothered me, I think, was the impression that somehow we are all called to flee the suburbs and serve the poor somewhere else. After reading the book, I looked at my homeschooling-mother-of-many-life and wondered if I wasn't totally missing the mark because I wasn't feeding the hungry in Africa or at least in downtown DC. Somehow, taking a baby from a weary mom at our dance school and rocking her for awhile didn't seem as worthy as rocking an orphan in Ethiopa. But God loves that mom at dance and He loves that baby, too. There are spiritually starving people right here in my midst. I know them and He calls me to love them well. To love them wholeheartedly. Some of us might be called to encourage and love and educate and support and feed and disciple right here in the midst of the minivans. Interrupted distracted me from my vocation. I don't think that was the author's intention. I think it was my overzealous interpretation. There's probably much more to say about that. I tend to get distracted...

Other things that try to distract me from hearth and home and this needy bunch of kids who all look astonishingly like my husband are opportunities to write and speak and work in the online and between-the-covers world of Christian publishing and ministry. In order to go to California, I had to say "I'm sorry, I can't do that." Again. Twice. I couldn't go to the Catholic New Media Conference in Dallas, despite prior plans to do so. And I couldn't join Sally Clarkson and the other writers from MomHeart at Sally's home for a leadership intensive.  Both were good things. Very good things. A week in California with my husband? It was the better thing. It was the thing God intended for me. Sally was so very encouraging when I told her about the trip. And I know she's held me in her heart and her prayers. So, I'm revisiting my copy of The Ministry of Motherhood.

I can hear Sally's voice reminding me that God calls me home. I keep saying "no." Or "not just yet." Just as I was certain all those many years ago that God was calling me to raise a large family for His Glory, I am reminded that He still wants me here. There are many, many opportunities to serve Him in my neighborhood and on the soccer field and even in the grocery store. My children are learning to recognize those opportunities right alongside me. I am still wholeheartedly investing in my home and family because my family still needs me. Their needs are numerous and important and my job is far from finished. This is my Africa. 

Join Ginny for more yarns: