On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

"I am the Immaculate Conception."
Our Lady of Lourdes from Shining Light Dolls

Oh ever immaculate Virgin, Mother of Mercy, Health of the Sick, Refuge of Sinners, Comfortess of the Afflicted, you know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings. Look upon me with mercy. When you appeared in the grotto of Lourdes, you made it a privileged sanctuary where you dispense your favors, and where many sufferers have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and corporal. I come, therefore, with unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession. My loving Mother, obtain my request. I will try to imitate your virtues so that I may one day share your company and bless you in eternity. Amen.

I had hoped to make a {AIP Approved!} Pumpkin Spice Cake with Gingersnap Crust, but we've had another full day with very little time left over for baking with spices... There might still be time, after Mass this evening, but I picked up these Sweet Potato Pecan {Spice} Cakes when I saw them at Costco last night, just in case. My family will enjoy them and, after nine months on the AIP diet, the scale keeps dropping! I'm getting used to skipping dessert.

THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the Christmas Giveaway I hosted! I'm so amazed by the enthusiastic response with 600+ comments and 15,000+ entries! Wow!!! I wish I could send each and every one of you a prize... Instead I will offer my communion and rosary this evening for your intentions. I just finished updating the post with the names of all the winners and I will contact each of you individually later this evening for your mailing addresses. Thank you also to all of my amazing and generous sponsors. Please be sure to remember them for any last minute Christmas shopping! God bless you all!

Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary!

Happy Birthday, Blessed Mother!

Today, in addition to beginning our new school year, we also celebrated the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary!

This year I baked a simple lemon cake in my Marian Fleur De Lis Bundt Pan, dusted it with powdered sugar, and topped it with our usual 10 candles representing one decade of the Holy Rosary. After dinner we prayed a "Hail Mary" as the children lit each candle and then sang Happy Birthday. 

Holy Mary, Mother of God, help me in all my problems. Teach me patience and wisdom. Show me how to train my children to be worthy children of God. Let me be kind and loving, but keep me from foolish indulgence. 

Pray for my children, dear Mother. Keep them from all danger, especially from spiritual danger. Help them to become virtuous citizens of their own country, but let them not forget the Kingdom of God. 

Jesus of Bethlehem, make my children love each other and their home. Help them to work and pray together in holy peace. 

Holy Family of Nazareth, be with us all, father, mother and children, every day of our lives. 

BENEDICTA: Marian Chant from Norcia {Review & "Win It Before You Can Buy It" Giveaway!}

The following review of BENEDICTA: Marian Chant from Norcia by the Monks of Norcia (De Montfort Music, 2015) was written by my husband. Thank you, Sean! 

"Seven times a day will I sing your praises." – The Rule of St. Benedict

The simple beauty of Gregorian chant - the eternal beauty of chant is prayerful, rich, and necessary in our age. BENEDICTA is the Monks of Norcia’s first ever international recording. The Monks of Norcia, in the sincerity of their prayer are able to draw the listener into the mind and heart of the Church’s expression of faith. The mysticism of the chant, the serenity and timeless beauty of its ancient tradition, the meditative and celestial qualities of the recording transport the listener to a spiritual light. We are reminded that our eternal destination lies beyond the earthly allure. As the listener enters into the contemplative mystery of prayer they are reminded of the spiritual land that indeed awaits those who hope in the Lord. These are the transcendent thoughts that the official music of the Church inspires.

Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “The chanting of the Office continues to sustain the whole Church around the world.”

This album is particularly unique in that the music is not part of any mass settings as many other chant CD’s from monks have done in the past. As the title reveals, the chants recorded in this album are dedicated to the Marian Feast Days found in the divine office and devotional hymns outside of the mass. From De Montfort Music:

“Inspiring, beautiful music of Chant at it's very best - from Italy by The Monks of Norcia. BENEDICTA: Marian Chant from Norcia is the title for this new recording of 33 tracks of Gregorian chant, including favorite Marian antiphons such as "Regina Caeli" and "Ave Regina Caelorum" but also previously unrecorded chant versions of responsories and a piece originally composed by the monks (“Nos Qui Christi Iugum,”) Some pieces are sung by the entire group, some by smaller ensembles of monks and others by soloists, imbuing 'BENEDICTA' with a variety of sound. Recorded on location at the monastery in Norcia, Italy, the album was produced by 11-time Grammy Award-winning producer Christopher Alder and engineered by Grammy-Award winning engineer Jonathan Stokes.”

Order your copy today.

“Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you!” – St. Augustine

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Today I have the privilege of being able to offer my visitors here at Shower of Roses a chance to WIN one of three copies of BENEDICTA before you can buy it! The giveaway will remain open through Monday, May 25th and the winners will be announced in this post and contacted by email on Tuesday, May 26th.  De Montfort Music will mail the CDs directly to the winners so that they can arrive just before the album is released!

Please help spread the word about this beautiful and unique new album, and be sure to enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter box below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BENEDICTA: Marian Chant from Norcia will be released on June 2, 2015 and is available to pre-order at Amazon. You can also order it directly from the monks and an extra portion of the proceeds will go towards assisting them in funding the many needs of their community!

Sunday of the Rose

These praises and prayers

I lay at your feet. 

O Virgin of virgins, 

O Mary, most sweet.

Be you my true guide

Through this pilgrimage here,

And stand by my side

When death draweth near.

Amen.

The feast of the Ascension of Our Lord was transferred to Sunday in our diocese. Early this morning, before Mass, I made Ascension Pancakes and bacon to serve Sean and the kids for breakfast.

Pancake :: The earth Jesus walked on.

(Homemade Buttermilk Pancakes)

Fresh Organic Strawberries :: The blood Jesus shed

Chocolate Syrup :: The roads Jesus traveled.

(Santa Cruz Organic Chocolate Flavored Syrup)

Whipped Cream :: The clouds our Lord ascended into.

(Unsweetened Whipping Cream, whipped in seconds using my ISI Easy Whip)  

Sprinkles :: The sweetness of life in Heaven.

(I used white sprinkles with gold stars this year.)

I went all out and enjoyed eating some bacon (representing roads?) and berries (representing the blood Jesus shed) for breakfast with a hot cup of Roasted Dandelion Tea (earth?) with some coconut milk for creamer (clouds?)… (All AIP approved!) My "sweetness of life in Heaven" was watching everyone enjoy their pancakes, hearing their rave reviews and "thank yous!", and getting to take a few pictures! ;)  

Before the 15th century, the Sunday after the Ascension was called in the Roman books "Sunday of the Rose" (Dominica de Rosa). On this Sunday, the mass is centered on the coming Feast of Pentecost. At the church of Santa Maria Rotonda in Rome (the Pantheon), following the Pope's sermon, a shower of roses was thrown from the nave of the church in token of the Lord's promise that He would send the Paraclete soon. We can spiritually revive this custom by making an offering of roses to the statue of Our Blessed Mother in our home or parish church. ~ excerpt from my May 2015 Catholic Digest submission

(According to WDTPRS this now happens on the feast of Pentecost! Someday I would sure love to visit Rome!) 

After Mass we stopped at the store to pick up a little bouquet of roses…
It's been such a lovely day!

I hope you all had a blessed weekend! 

The Angel of the Lord declared Unto Mary...

And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary...

Behold the handmaid of the Lord.

Be it done unto me according to Thy Word.

Hail Mary...

And the Word was made Flesh.

And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary...

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.

That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let Us Pray

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Happy Feast of the Annunciation!

My Daybook :: September 16, 2014

Outside my window...
The sky is filled with smoke again and I'm dreaming of going back to the ocean… or anywhere with clear blue skies. I have discovered that the smoke triggers my anxiety/panic attacks. It seems to be affecting our oldest daughter too, who is complaining about chest pain and breathing difficulty this afternoon. Can you please say a little prayer for us? We are continuing to pray for the safety of the firefighters and all those affected by this year's wildfires.

I am thinking...
I've probably gone a little overboard sharing pictures from last week's trip, but I wanted to post them here for my in-law's to see. They aren't on Facebook/Instagram/etc, but they do read the blog - Happy 47th Anniversary you two!!! I promise this will be the last post with pictures from our trip. Next I'll move on to a whole bunch of posts with pictures from Twinkle Toes' birthday party! ;)

I am thankful... 
So thankful that Sean was able to take a few days off work to go camping. I needed to get out of the smoke and we needed some time together with just our family. It was such a great trip!

Learning all the time…
I'm also thankful for the ability to home educate our children, or in this case campground educate! ;) We kept up with math lessons at the picnic table...

... and learned history as it was read aloud around the campfire!

 

We also toured the lighthouse, visited the cheese factory, and so much more!

Celebrating the liturgical year...
We also were blessed to be able to attend a beautiful EF Latin Mass for the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary!  Afterwards we took Father out to breakfast and then later in the evening he joined us again for dinner at our campsite. He kindly blessed our RV (and the campground), taught the children how to play Yatzee, and we ended the evening with cake!

Just because we were camping didn't mean we couldn't still have birthday cake for Mother Mary, topped with our usual 10 candles representing a decade of the Rosary. I was so pleased when I found this beautiful single layer white cake, complete with a blue rose, at the local grocery store for only $6. It was perfect!

The next morning the boys served another EF Latin Mass on the feast of St. Peter Claver.

This past Sunday we also had our own local EF Latin Mass - it's once every two months and happened to fall on September 14th, the anniversary of the implementation of Summorom Pontificum! I picked up a cake to serve after Mass.

From the kitchen... 
Too. Much. Cake. and. Candy!

I didn't have any trouble passing on the cake, but all the amazing samples at Cranberry Sweets & More (and Face Rock Creamery) were irresistible.

I especially couldn't pass up an opportunity to enjoy a Chocolate Almond Cheesecake truffle. YUM!!!

We brought home a few things to give as gifts, and I am back on my diet.

I am working on... 
The 17 Day Diet and exercising. I've really struggled with my health and weight following my miscarriage and have a lot of weight to lose. Even with a few cheats on Day 15 I still was able to make it through Twinkle Toes' birthday party, the golf tournament, and a few summer BBQs without cheating and drop over 13 pounds during the initial 17 Day Accelerate Cycle! It's a start. I still have plenty to lose to get back to where I need to be and next up is the Activate Cycle.

I am creating...
my to-do list for the next couple days… Is it Friday yet?

I am going...
to Catholic Women Rejoice! I'm so excited to finally meet Danielle Bean! If you live in the Pacific Northwest there is still time to register before tickets sell out. I'd love to meet you there!

I am hoping...
to finally have an opportunity to sort through the pictures from Twinkle Toes' birthday to share with you all. It was so sweet!

I am praying...
for God's guidance as we continue to discern His Will for our family.

I am reading…
Augustus Caesar's World and The Borrowed House (aloud to all the children), The Young Reader's Shakespeare: Julius Caesar (with the younger children), and A Graphic Life of Jesus Christ and Julius Caesar (with the older boys).

Pondering these words…
from Mother Teresa:

"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop." 

I am listening…
to the air conditioner. We've had to keep it running to filter out some of the smoke that is making it's way into the house.

Around the house RV and Campsite...
Thank you, Miss Charlotte, for recommending Say Anything! Captain received it as a gift on his Bacon Birthday and we played it the for the first time while camping. It was SO MUCH FUN!

"Dad and Mom, come play! THIS one's for YOU Mom!" 

After watching the sunset on our last night at the beach (and showers to wash off ALL that sand) we roasted marshmallows for s'mores!

One of my favorite things...  
I love that my girls love to dress up and wear their "old fashioned" dresses.

You were right, Melanie, this picture is pretty in sepia.

This week's plans…

• Dropped the Sienna off at the mechanics yesterday for service and repairs (I am hoping I get it back tomorrow since I really need a car on Thursday and would rather not take the RV to piano!) 
• Catholic Digest writing deadline (was Monday and I'm still working on it…) 
• Tutors on Tuesday and Thursday
• Piano lessons on Thursday
• The girls and I leave on a road-trip Friday!!!! (Please keep us in your prayers!)
• Snuggles has another Learn to Skate/Learn to Play Hockey lesson on Saturday
• My in-law's 47th Anniversary today and my Mom's birthday on Sunday!

A little peek at my day...
I stopped in town during the five minute drive to our Mission Parish to take this photo of one of the new fires in our area… I mentioned on Instagram that "If the skies fill with smoke again I'm going on another road trip. My anxiety can't handle any more smoke…"  I wasn't kidding!

Celebrating the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

"Rejoice, O earth, because from the womb of Anna, as from a fertile vine, has sprung a sweet, ripe cluster. To the harvesting of this vineyard all are invited, none are excluded—it is the joy of all." 

~ St. John Damascene