Tag: prayer

Posted on

Our Lady of Charity Novena

I’m so excited to share with you that a group of bloggers (and me, too!) will be praying a novena to Our Lady of Charity starting on August 31st. These simple prayers, translated from a traditional novena in Spanish, will be posted at various blogs by some beautiful women with a deep love of the Blessed Mother.

Please follow my social media for links (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) … or come back here for links to the prayers. You can also sign up for my newsletter and the prayers.

At the end of the novena I’ll give away a signed copy of Our Lady of Charity: How a Cuban Devotion to Mary Helped Me Grow in Faith and Love to a random winner selected from the active newsletter list or comments on the blogs.

Join the newsletter HERE.

Posted on

love love love

I’m sipping some tea late into the night. It was hot at the baseball game, and even though we were having fun, it was hot. So now, after a shower, I don’t feel like going to sleep, but I don’t want to watch any more news, either. Tomorrow I’ll catch up. Tonight, I think I’ll just sit in the half light, drink my tea before it gets cold, and pray. The world needs prayer. And love. So much love.

I like the technique proposed by Pope Francis, to use your hand as a guide for prayer:

1. Thumb: This is closest to you, so pray for your dear ones, your family, your friends.

2. Index finger. We point with this finger – pray for teachers, the people who guide you, law enforcement and emergency responders. They need God’s guidance, too, to do their work.

3. The middle finger. Sometimes we use it in a not-so-nice-manner. It’s the tallest finger, so pray for our leaders. The world is a mess. Policies are a mess. People are a mess. We need good leaders to help us. To make this world a better place for everyone.

4. The ring finger. Associated with marriage and love. It’s also the weakest finger. Pray for the weak. The marginalized. The misunderstood. We are all God’s children. We are all worthy of  love.

5. The pinkie.  This is the smallest finger, and reminds you to pray for yourself. Putting ourselves last in this prayer strategy doesn’t mean we dismiss ourselves — it helps us order our needs after thinking broadly about our relationships.

Posted on

light a candle – say a prayer

candlesMy husband says I’m a pyromaniac. I’m not an arsonist, but I do like fire. It’s true; I play with fire, especially in my chimenea on the porch. I burn everything: paper, cardboard, leaves. I even burn wood. Gasp!

My favorite things to light are candles. I have many scattered about the house, and I usually light one on my desk when I’m working there. Scented ones that give off the warm aroma of vanilla or sandalwood are my favorites.

It’s no surprise that when I go to Adoration, I usually light at least one candle, maybe more depending on how many intentions I’m taking to prayer.

This morning was no different. I went to Mass, stayed a while before the Blessed Sacrament and paused a moment before the Blessed Virgin, where I lit several candles for dear ones, each a prayer bound by the light of the flame to the Light of the World.

Pin It on Pinterest