SO I wrote most of this LAST Lent... and then never finished it and never posted it and because of how Spiritually Advanced I am (not very), it is still painfully pertinent and I will be taking a similar approach to Lent this year... I will be re-reading How to Break Up with Your Phone, actually putting her plan into practice, and taking a Social Media Fast on Wednesdays, Fridays, and possibly Sundays. Checking in twice per day other days of the week for 15 minutes or less (Did you know you can set a timer for yourself on Instagram to remind you to quit scrolling?). Have you successfully cut back on tech addiction? How did you do it? Share in the comments! “I’ll be WITH you in a MINUTE.” I shouted as I punched out the last few words of a text message. I slammed down the phone and ran to the bathroom. “Read me a book.” “Are you done pooping? Can I wipe your butt.” *feigned straining* “Noooooo. I still pooping. Read me a book.” *text alert* “I’ll be right back.” I ran to the kitchen to respond, got lost on instagram for a couple minutes, and then started composing an email response. “I done poopingggggg.” I threw the phone down and rushed back to the bathroom for butt duty (doo-ty?) By the time I wiped him, cleaned the pot, and washed my hands, he was off playing cars and I went back to my phone to finish that email. And respond to another text. The email and text convo were *so* important that I don’t remember them today. But I do remember that I didn’t read my son a book. I also remember him grabbing my phone and pulling it down from my face and saying “Be with meeeee!” and snatching it back up to finish what (ever?) I was doing before slamming it down and asking “What?” Eeeeesh. And then that article from the NYT was all up in my Social Media grill. You know the one... Bottom Line: Our "Smart" phones are making us dumb and breaking our brains. So I bought the book. And Lent started. So, as a ‘penance,’ I started to read more and pick up my phone less. I also joined the Abiding Together book study of Searching for and Maintaining Peace. (Episodes can be found here) These two books have been a magical combo. Or maybe I should say Providential? How to Break Up with Your Phone starts out with all the science behind the addiction. Why we jump to respond to ever ping, ring, or vibrate. Why we snap at whoever is interrupting us from our scroll (it’s not because you’re an awful mom… it’s science). The studies Price summarizes in the first part of her book all conclude: our smartphones have us living in a state of constant distraction which is adding to our stress and affecting our ability to Be Still. And Who is it that speaks to us in the stillness? While Price touches on the importance of silence and being BORED every once in a while (being constantly distracted and looking for that ‘new thing’ affects our ability to focus and think deeply) her book is secular in nature and doesn’t go on to speak about the importance of these things in the spiritual life. If we never leave room for His Voice, of course we’re going to be agitated and anxious. In the words of Fr. Jacques Philippe: Consider the surface of a lake, above which the sun is shining. If the surface of the lake is peaceful and tranquil, the sun will be reflected in this lake; and the more peaceful the lake, the more perfectly will it be reflected. If, on the contrary, the surface of the lake is agitated, undulating, then the image of the sun can not be reflected in it. How can we maintain this peaceful, tranquil mental state so we can better reflect Christ to those around us? One of Father’s many suggestions is to spend time each day simply sitting and looking at Christ on the Cross. He calls it a Children’s Prayer. This practice will help us to grow in our appreciation for the great love Christ has for us as individuals, which in turn will increase our trust in His providence and our ability to abandon ourselves in His will. Here are some prayers and quotes to reflect on while gazing at our Lord: "Look at His adorable face. Look at His glazed and sunken eyes. Look at His wounds. Look Jesus in the Face. There, you will see how He loves us." *~ St. Therese of Lisieux "The cross is the school of love." *~ St. Maximilian Kolbe "How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return." *~ St. Theodore the Studite "If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross. Great patience occurs in two ways: either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid. Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth." *~ St. Thomas Aquinas Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus while before Your face I humbly kneel and, with burning soul, pray and beseech You to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope, and charity; true contrition for my sins, and a firm purpose of amendment. While I contemplate, with great love and tender pity, Your five most precious wounds, pondering over them within me and calling to mind the words which David, Your prophet, said to You, my Jesus: "They have pierced My hands and My feet, they have numbered all My bones." Amen. If you have successfully cut back on 'tech time' either during Lent or year round, share your tips with us below! I hope you all have a prayerful and peaceful Lent!
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Want to pick up a devotion that Our Blessed Mother specifically asked for at Kibeho? For a limited time, you can purchase both a copy of the devotional and a Seven Sorrows Rosary handmade by Morning Glory Beads at a special Lenten price. Click here to purchase. The Rosary of Our Lady's Seven Sorrows is prayed very similarly to the regular rosary in that if you know how to pray your Our Father and Hail Mary, you're pretty much good to go! Traditionally, the Seven Sorrows Rosary is started with an Act of Contrition to acknowledge the fact that our sins add to the sorrows of Our Mother. After that, it is prayed just like the rosary only there are seven septets instead of decades (seven Hail Marys). Instead of the Mysteries of the Rosary, you meditate on each Sorrow. They are ordered chronologically throughout Mary’s life. Just as the mystery is announced before beginning a new decade, the sorrow should be announced before beginning a new septet. After the final septet (The Burial of Jesus), it is customary to pray three more Hail Marys in honor of Our Lady’s tears. So, physically, you'd begin this devotion on the centerpiece with an Act of Contrition, Announcement of the First Sorrow, and Our Father, then continue around all seven septets, and then finish with the three hanging beads outside the circle. Easy Peasy, Right? Now, if you are like me and you are just about getting in your daily rosary (after years of saying I Will Do This), please don't replace the regular rosary with this devotion (though perhaps for Lent, it might be appropriate to use in replacement of the Joyful, Glorious, and Luminous Mysteries on their days). There are seven Sorrows and seven days of the week. Pray. Your. Rosary. and then take time each day to reflect on a Sorrow and pray the septet. By the end of the week, you will have prayed an entire Rosary of the Seven Sorrows and Our Blessed Mother will surely appreciate your efforts! Interested in adding a devotion to Our Lady's Seven Sorrows to your prayer life? For a limited time, you can purchase both a copy of the devotional and a handmade Seven Sorrows Rosary at a special Lenten price. Click here to purchase. The Below is an excerpt from Waiting with Mary: a Seven Sorrows Devotional for Catholic Women Facing Infertility. For a limited time, you can purchase both a copy of the devotional and a handmade Seven Sorrows Rosary at a special Lenten price. Click here to purchase. "This devotion is closely connected with the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross which has been celebrated since the year 326. On September 14th of that year, St. Helen found the true cross on Calvary. Four of the Seven Sorrows occur in conjunction with Christ’s passion and death. St. Ambrose and Ephrem the Syrian (fourth century) showed devotion to the Sorrows of Mary in their writing and St. Bridget of Sweden (13th century) received several visions of Our Lady encouraging the devotion and naming the seven promises for those who adopt it. St. Alphonsus Liguori has an entire section devoted to her sorrows in his book The Glories of Mary (d 1787). Mary recently encouraged this devotion in the 1980s when she made several visits to school children in Kibeho, Rwanda. There is actually a religious order that originally formed around a devotion to Mary at the foot of the cross. The Servants of Mary, or Servites, were formed around 1239. During his pontificate, Paul V (d 1621) officially recognized a rudimentary form Seven Sorrows Rosary when he awarded all who prayed seven Our Fathers and seven Hail Marys while contemplating Our Lady’s sorrows a 60 day indulgence when certain other criteria were met (this was before the Church did away with numerical values of indulgences). Fra Arcangelo Ballottini of Bologna (d 1622) is the man who gave us the form of prayer we have kept to this day. He proposed extending the prayer; rather than seven Our Fathers and seven Hail Marys, he suggested adapting a form similar to the Rosary. Each Sorrow should be contemplated while praying one Our Father and seven Hail Marys. He also proposed that the faithful pray it daily, just like the Rosary." The Joyful Leap and Morning Glory Beads have teamed up to offer you a Seven Sorrows Set at a special Lenten price. Not personally experiencing infertility or delayed conception? Consider buying the set and keeping the booklet for a loved one or gifting it to your priest so that they can minister to someone who is. 1 in 8 couples experience infertility. Click here to purchase. 9/20/2019 0 Comments The Story of a SoulThis autobiography has been on my proverbial bookshelf for years (see why here) and I finally dove into it with some lovely ladies from my parish as we met and discussed chapter by chapter over some Panera treats week by week. It was great. It was fun. We were LOVing St. Therese. Then life happened and the bookclub more or less fell apart and it's taken me a couple more months to finish up this masterpiece of our Faith. And I am so happy I did. Maybe you're like me. Maybe you're addicted to buying more books and starting more books but not so much reading them through to the end. Just in case this is you, I've compiled a collection of quotes from the last third of St. Therese's little book to give you the kick in the pants needed to pick it back up and finish it (or maybe just let you feel like you have finished it but if you do read it yourself, I am sure different lines will pop out at you than me so you should FINISH. THE. BOOK). Here we go: I was not like those grand souls who practice all kinds of penances from childhood. My mortification consisted in checking my self-will, keeping back an impatient word, doing little things for those around me without their knowing, and countless things like that. (I cheated... this is halfway through but it might be my favorite) How sweet the way of Love, Mother! One can fall, I know; there may be infidelities, yet Love knows how to turn all things to profit, quickly consuming everything which might displease Jesus, and leaving at the bottom of one's heart nothing but deep and humble peace. Under the Old Law, when God told his people that they must love their neighbor as themselves, it was before He had come upon earth Himself; knowing how much man loved himself, it was the best He could ask. But when Jesus gives his Apostles a New Commandment His Own Commandment, He asks them to love one another, not only as they love themselves, but as He Himself loves them and will love them even unto the consummation of the world! I have not the courage to make myself search for wonderful prayers in books; there are so many of them and it gives me a headache. In any case, each one seems more beautiful than the one before. As I cannot say all of them, and do not know which to choose, I just act like a child who can't read; I tell God quite simply, all that I want to say, and He always understands. Whenever my soul is so dry that I am incapable of a single good thought, I always say an Our Father or a Hail Mary very slowly, and these prayers alone cheer me up and nourish my soul with divine food. My story is nothing but a tangled skein, but it is the best I can do. (gotta love a knitting reference!!!) Just as a mighty river carries with it all it meets into the ocean's depths, so, my Jesus, a soul which plunges into the boundless ocean of Your love bears all her treasures with her. Jesus does not ask for glorious deeds. He only asks for self-surrender and for gratitude. He thirsted for love, and He is more thirsty than ever now. Indifference and ingratitude are all He finds among the world's disciples; even among His own. He finds so few surrendering themselves without reserve to the tenderness of His infinite love. Love proves itself by deeds, and how shall I prove mine? The little child will scatter flowers whose fragrant perfume will surround the royal throne, and in a voice that is silver-toned, she will sing the canticle of love. So, my Beloved, shall my short life be spent in Your sight. I can prove my love only by scattering flowers, that is to say, by never letting slip a single little sacrifice, a single glance, a single word; by making profit of the very smallest actions, by doing them all for love. I want to suffer and even rejoice for love, for this is my way of scattering flowers. If my desires are overly bold, then take them away, because they are my greatest martyrdom. For as long as You wish, I will stay with my eyes fixed on You, longing to be fascinated by Your divine gaze. What were your favorite lines from The Story of a Soul? Have you ever received a rose from St. Therese? Let me tell you a little something about St. Therese the Little Flower. I was complaining in the confessional about the state of the "dating world" yeeeeeeeears ago. The priest handed me a prayer card of St. Therese and told me to ask her to send me a husband. After all, she has promised to spend her eternity sending roses down to earth. So I did. A few times. But never with great devotion (to my shame). A few years later, on October 1st, I had a picnic in the rain with handsome guy I had met through CatholicMatch.com. I was the first woman he had ever met up with via the website. It was a good first date even though I clumsily busted my own pinky in his car door. Less than two years later, we were married. It wasn't until marriage year two (or three) that I realized our First date Anniversary is also St. Therese's Feast Day. *cue the goosebumps* GOD IS GOOD. Her novena starts on September 22nd. You can get daily reminders with the prayers via Pray More Novenas and I will also be posting the prayers and a reminder on Instagram daily. Have you received a rose of St. Therese? How can I pray for you during her novena this year? |
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