A Mother and her Eleven Children - Mental Prayer Part 2

Photo from: Married Saints and Blesseds: Throughout the Centuries.

In my second posting on mental prayer I want to share with you the story of a beautiful family who lived last century in Austria. The story comes from the book, Married Saints and Blesseds: Through the Centuries. (I highly recommend this book.) Hedwig and Ernst Kronsteiner were both holy parents but I want to focus on Hedwig. One of their priest sons went on to write a book “Eine Metture und elf Kinder” (A Mother and her 11 children) it is in it’s fifth edition but unfortunately it is not in English.

Both Hedwig and Ernst came from anti-clerical, liberal families but despite this they both came to a deep realization of God and His goodness before they entered marriage. Hedwig impresses me deeply, she lived for God and her family, it never altered, she lived this until her last day on earth. Mental prayer was a fundamental part of her life and the fruits born from this all through her life are very evident. I will quote from the book:

“During the years of marriage that they spent together, the mother took the lead in religious matters, deliberately bringing her husband and children along with her into her world of faith and prayer. She led a life of prayer that was extraordinarily deep. Her prayer life followed a fixed order of an almost monastic sort; she not only said her daily prayers, as was her duty, but, despite her many chores, she recited her Rosary, spent an hour in meditation, and attended Holy Mass each and every day. Moreover, Mother Kronstiner knew very well how to turn the entire day, with its toils and worries, its work and its cares on behalf of a large family, into a prayer through a “good intention”, which she formulated as follows: “You have to do everything for the love of God; anything else is worth nothing!”

I think her words above reflect her generous time in mental prayer each day, understanding mental prayer to be conversing with God in love. The grace from her "conversation with God" flowed over to the rest of her 23hours in the day – “everything for the love of God, anything else is worth nothing!” The lifetime fruit of this mental prayer was eleven children, eight who were called to the religious life. Isn’t that astounding?

I’ll continue to quote again: “This mother raised her children with astonishing wisdom and generous freedom, in keeping, nonetheless, with the twofold principle: “The children don’t belong to me, they belong to God!”, and “Anything rather than a moral sin!”

Here are her eleven children:

Anna – Sister Cecilia of the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth, organist & choir director
Agnes – Sister Theresita of the Carmelite Monastery in Linz, cantor & organist
Hedwig – Sister Lucillia in the Missionary Congregation of the Holy Ghost Sisters.
Ernst – master clockmaker and director of a church choir.
Franz – Lay Brother in the Congregation of the Steyler Missionaries (working in Chile & Argentina)
Berthold – married, first a clockmaker then a policeman
Joseph – A priest in the diocese of Linz, a choirmaster and highly esteemed composer
Otto – married, a clockmaster as well as mayor for 15years of Losenstein.
Aloisia – Sister Elfriede of the Holy Ghost Sisters in Stockerau, organist
Hermann – priest of the diocese of Linz, professor of a music academy and composer.
Rudolf – he had entered the Benedictine Abbey in Seckau to become a monk but WW2 prevented him pursuing this vocation, missing in war.

And how did this faithful mother die? Her last words once again are a testimony to her faithfulness to mental prayer, as I quote for the last time:

“Hedwig Knonsteiner, got up early, at 4:00am, on April 19, 1940, as usual, and had her “conversation with God” in her customary one-hour morning meditation. At 7:00 am she took her missal to attend Mass, as usual, in the parish church in Losenstein and received Holy Communion, unaware that it was her Viaticum. (food for the journey) She spent the day as “Grandmother” in the company of her son Otto and his wife, Justina, and watching her little grandson Otto.

Around 8:00 pm she went with her husband – as she did every evening – into her bedroom to the family photo to bless her children and to pray for each of them. Then the husband and wife, as was their custom, each made the sign of the cross on the other’s forehead and prayed the prayer of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. After this, Frau Kronsteiner went again to the kitchen to make some final preparations. While there she had a fainting spell. After a time, her husband found her unconscious. They brought her to bed, called the doctor and the priest; the latter administered the Anointing of the Sick. At midnight, the courageous woman died in the peace of Christ, after managing to write down a sentence as a sort of testament: “Grant (O God) that I may love Thee always, and do with me what Thou wilt!”

Hedwig Kronsteiner, please pray for me!

Why I LOVE Tuesdays...and St Anne.

My own personal experience with honouring St Anne on her Tuesdays is that your prayers do not go unanswered.

My devotion has waxed and waned (though never again!) over the years, honouring her days only when praying for some special intention rather than just for herself, but she has always been understanding of the child (me) who was just learning to walk, tottering and falling like a toddler.

I remember that I offered my Tuesday Communions during my hardest pregnancy 6 years ago and I was very reliant on her intercession. When I felt I could hardly endure the suffering and I called upon her, it would lift, I would have relief. Then when the beautiful boy was born, it was a labour where I lost the plot completely at the end (for good reason) but I felt she intervened, turning a scary situation into a quick and blessed outcome within 15mins, I will never forget it. (When you go kissing all the nurses attending, believe me, your grateful!)

I have also prayed to St Anne for my health.

She has assisted me recently, since the birth of my little girl, as I was very, very unwell. At first I wondered why the sickness, as I had prayed to her for a good pregnancy, a safe birth, baby baptised and my good recovery. Why not the good recovery? It was only as I plunged further down and started to get worse that I realised she wasn't just assisting me in the temporal things I was asking for but that she had far greater, spiritual gifts to give. She knew the weaknesses in my soul greater than I did. But I soon became aware of them.

My soul was softened and made pliable through all the suffering and I KNEW what had to be changed in my spiritual life, my motherhood and more. I cannot be more grateful as I write this, she has been SO GOOD to me! What was the use of giving me back my health for my children if I wasn't going to be a better mother for it? That whole incident is an enormous story in itself and most I will hold in my heart but I will say is that St Anne was using her Tuesdays to show me things through that whole trial and tribulation.

She has helped me greatly on two other important occasions healthwise and I will share just one of those with you today as it a story where I feel St Anne left me tangible signs that the help I received was through her intercession ~ through her Tuesdays.

I have a serious thyroid disorder, Hashimoto’s disease and unfortunately the normal medication was not being properly utilized by my body. (I was unaware of this until later) All I knew was I was unwell and could hardly function. I would go into my ‘thyroid coma’ (I like to call it) every morning and would be on the bed for hours until it passed, it affected my ability to function for my children, my husband.

I had been praying to St Anne for answers and very soon I was given a recommendation of a doctor who could help me. The man who gave me the details also had a wife with Hashimoto’s and his words to me was, “It’s all about getting back your quality of life.” This practioner had helped his wife experience that 'quality' again.

Because of the seriousness of my situation I had to see this doctor every week for months, and it wasn’t until I was in the month of July and it was the 26th (St Anne’s feastday) that I realised I had been visiting this doctor every Tuesday – it didn’t have to be that day, it just was. In that year the 26th of July WAS a Tuesday and that morning I was in his waiting room when it dawned on me that I was there on her feastday and that I had been there every Tuesday for months on end!

The happy conclusion to this story is that the reason why my body was not feeling good on the original medication was discovered and adjustments and changes to medication were made to rectify it, GIVING ME BACK MY LIFE! There are not many doctors who are sufficiently aware of this problem and know how to deal with it, so I was blessed indeed to have been lead to this doctor.

To this day I feel St Anne was telling me that she had been a powerful, heavenly intercessor in this wonderful answer to prayer and she let me know it through the significance of her Tuesdays.

(St Anne)...”obtains restoration of health for the sick mother, preserves her precious life for the helpless children..." Good St Anne pg33

The Needle and the Golden Thread - Mental Prayer part 1

I've called this 'Part 1' only because I don't know how much I will write, so there will be more postings but I don't know how many, I'll just keep sharing my thoughts and recent discoveries until there is no more to say. This is not something I'm thoroughly experienced at - I hope to be, but I'm not - but I'm sharing the passion of my thoughts from spiritual reading and the recent living out of those ideas, that's all.

Mental Prayer. I have over the years, grown in the realisation that this is essential to a good life especially one where you have innocent souls looking more to what you do rather than what you say.

{Please Lord, can I go back 13 years? Things would be SOOO different. Old head, where were you when I had young shoulders?}

But it is certainly better late than never... "Never" How that word frightens me. No I will not let "never" haunt me in the autumn of my life. I have received my revelation. I will not fail by God's grace. God's grace. "Ask and you shall receive, knock and the door will be opened to you." Luke 11:9 In prayer and conversation with God each day, I must ask for the grace to do His will. What is that daily conversation called? Mental Prayer. Or meditation...

Do you know how long it has taken me to really understand what those simple words mean? The word 'meditation' is actually misleading, says Alphonsus. He says that meditation in the strict sense means thinking, reflecting and reasoning. So therefore, many tend to believe that meditation is a time to be spent in the exercising of their imaginations. St Aphonsus preferred to use the word, 'mental prayer' keeping thoughts at a minimum and prayers, petitions and affections from the heart, rich and abundant.

Mental prayer is the only sure way to God. Have you ever heard this famous saying? "Those who pray are surely saved and those who do not pray are surely lost." that was St Alphonsus Ligouri.

St Teresa of Avila said, "The devil knows that he has lost the soul that perseveringly practices mental prayer."

Alphonsus Ligouri also said, "Many say the Rosary, the Office, and perform works of devotion; yet still continue in sin. But mental prayer and sin cannot exist together." (Though the Rosary that is properly meditated upon IS mental prayer, but how many persevere in that depth of meditation upon the mysteries?)

I want to share with you some more sayings of Saint Alphonsus on mental prayer:

"The first means to love Jesus Christ, is mental prayer."

"Mental prayer is a familiar conversation and union with God, and consists not so much in thinking as in making affections, petitions and resolutions."

"If God does not bestow His graces upon us, the fault is ours; it is because we do not ask them of Him. All mental prayer should consist in acts and petitions."

"Remember that the devil labours hard to disturb us in the time of meditation, in order to make us abandon it. Let him who omits mental prayer on account of distractions be persuaded that he gives delight to the devil."

"In going to meditation, never propose to yourself your own pleasure and satisfaction, but only to please God, and to learn what He wishes you to do."

When I first started to put aside the first 15-30mins of my day in mental prayer I quickly fell into the wrong perception of what mental prayer really is. I have since learnt that it is a common mistake. I thought that I needed to find a lovely quote from the Bible or from a religious commentary and really think and ponder upon it. I found in time that it wasn't easy...I'd soon run out of 'thoughts' and need to find another quote to think upon.

So this lead to the habit of reading too much. I was searching for 'thoughts' to grab me, so that I could think more, but often it would take a bit of reading to find that particular prevoking passage. It sort of turned into spiritual reading...in the end I was burnt out by my confusion. It took time to find nice passages and something told me deep down that too much reading wasn't really mental prayer...

Recently I was given a wonderful little informal booklet, titled: "Method of Mental Prayer of St Alphonsus Ligouri" It is short, brief BUT ENLIGHTENING. I've read about Mental Prayer before, long tracts and books on it. But it didn't sink in. I'm a very visual person and if you give me an analogy, I'll probably get it. This booklet gave me a hum-dinger of an analogy - The Needle and the Golden Thread.

What is the needle? The thinking of God, the reflection of Him and His goodness, often using some passage or sentence to inspire them.

What is the golden thread? This is the spontaneous prayer, which comes after short reflection and it can be with or without words.

I'll go on to quote from the booklet:

"The progress of the soul does not consist in thinking much of God, but loving Him ardently."

In mental prayer we apply the needle swiftly, not pausing too long on it (thinking of God) It is the slow drawing of the golden thread (conversation with God) that is the real power of mental prayer.

Quoting the booklet again:

"To help your mind, read a text of Scripture or a short Meditation out of a book. St Teresa used a book in her Meditations for seventeen years. Meditate for a few minutes on any thought that has struck you; that is think for a short time on what it means, what lessons it teaches you, and ask yourself: What have I done about this hitherto? What shall I now do? But remember, you think only in order that you may pray.

The great benefit of Mental Prayer consists less in meditation or thinking than in acts, prayers and resolutions, which are the fruits of Meditation. The thinking is the needle which draws after it the golden thread of acts, prayers and resolutions. The thread is more important than the needle. "

We deftly apply the needle, we slowly draw the golden thread.

I look back on my attempts at mental prayer and see myself now as stalling over the application of the needle, to the point of pricking my finger upon it and finally giving up, sad and sore. (just my visual analogy for past attempts) I was hardly drawing the thread through! I'd run out of time and put down my 'tapestry of prayer' - lots of pin holes, not much thread woven into the fabric, in otherwords, with hardly anything to show...

Good St Joseph

This year St Joseph's feast was celebrated on the 15th due to today falling in Holy Week but since it is the 19th and we are thinking and praying to him today, I thought I'd link you back to my posting last year - you must take a look at the little video, it is just fabulous. Enjoy!

Tuesdays with St Anne with the whole family

Children are usually very visual and for the record, so am I! And because life is busy in a big family, especially with schooling involved, I NEED the visual ‘pointers’ in the day to bring me to recollection.

This is why I set up a ‘mini altar’ on top of our sorting centre. The sorting centre stands about adult chest height so it is high enough that I don’t have to worry about little ones getting to it in any way. It is a nice tall and thin timber cabinet with 10 drawers. Scroll down this posting and you will see it when we had it set up for the novena of Our Lady of Lourdes last month.

I continue to use it for novenas and for devotional days and so on Tuesdays my St Anne statue comes off the main family altar and goes onto the mini altar, the children go and collect flowers from the garden for the day to place in the vase. I have all my St Anne sacramental/prayerbooks with it – her chaplet, her Holy Oil, my Good St Anne manual. (It contains the prayers) I also have a blessed wax candle as well, because when I gather my children for prayers we like to light the candle. If it is a very special intention we are praying for, we let the candle burn longer so that our prayers continue to rise to heaven.

Another place to set up a ‘mini altar’ is in the centrepiece of the dining table, we have a lazy susan that is just ideal for this. Since families usually sit at the dining table three times a day, it can be a reminder at each of those occasions, at the very least.

The prayer I like to say most with the children, is the St Anne Litany, as even the very youngest can join in and say, “Pray for us!” Also Litanies are particularly beautiful because we are remembering and praising the saint we honour in the recitation and ultimately we praise Jesus, who has worked His grace and power through them.

Who doesn’t like to be praised by those we love? We all do! If my children were to write a list of all the reasons they loved me on Mother’s Day I would be greatly touched. So in saying that, we can understand why litanies are so blessed. To know why the Church has always recited litanies, follow the link.

When I was a five years old, I have a strong and beautiful memory of my 15 year old next door neighbour reciting the Litany of Our Lady off by heart (impressive to a little child!) after the communal rosary in their home whenever they had the Parish statue of Our Lady for the week – that boy went on to become a priest (and married my husband and I) – and I never forgot what an impression a litany can have on the heart and soul of a little child. It is good to have those memories, as what seems ‘normal’ to adults can be quite ‘mystical’ through a child’s eyes. So it is a reminder to me to think of the of the children and not underestimate their hearts during prayer time.

Of course as far as having an image of St Anne is concerned, a picture or even a holy card of St Anne is just as good if you haven’t a St Anne Statue. It does not have to anything fancy or expensive. If I need an image for this sort of purpose, and I don't have one, I'll find something really beautiful in an internet image search, there are just so many wonderful pictures. How easy these sort of things are when you have the net! What IS important is the visual reminder for mum, the beautiful experience for the children and the heartfelt honouring of St Anne by everyone.

Litany of St Anne

Lord have mercy on us. Christ have mercy on us.

Lord have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.

God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Queen of Angels and Saints, Pray for us.

St Anne, Pray for us.

St. Anne, instrument of the Holy Ghost, Pray for us.

St. Anne, faithful spouse of St. Joachim, Pray for us.

St. Anne, mirror of the married, Pray for us.

St. Anne, example of widows, Pray for us.

St. Anne, miracle of patience, Pray for us.

St. Anne, mother of confidence, Pray for us.

St. Anne, mother of constancy, Pray for us.

St. Anne, mother of prayer, Pray for us.

St. Anne, mother of blessing, Pray for us.

St. Anne, vessel of sanctity, Pray for us.

St. Anne, merciful mother, Pray for us.

St. Anne, comfortress of the afflicted, Pray for us.

St. Anne, help of the poor, Pray for us.

St. Anne, protectress of virgins, Pray for us.

St. Anne, support of the oppressed, Pray for us.

St. Anne, refuge of thy clients, Pray for us.

We sinners, We beseech thee, hear us.

Through thy love for Jesus and Mary, We beseech thee, hear us.

Through thy virtues and merits, We beseech thee, hear us.

Through thy goodness and mercy, We beseech thee, hear us.

Through thy compassion and charity, We beseech thee, hear us.

Through the graces bestowed on thee by God, We beseech thee, hear us.

Through the joys thou didst experience with Jesus and Mary, We beseech thee, hear us.

Through the happiness thou dost enjoy for all eternity, We beseech thee, hear us.

Through the honor given thee by the Saints in Heaven, We beseech thee, hear us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.

V. Pray for us, St. Anne,

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

Let us pray:

O God, Who didst vouchsafe to endow blessed Anne with grace so that she might be worthy to become the mother of her who brought forth Thine only-begotten Son, mercifully grant that we who devoutly venerate her memory may also be helped by her powerful intercession. Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Next week I want to share my own personal experiences with St Anne's intercession through honoring Tuesdays and how she can show her intercessory power through her days.

A day to give thanks

I was visiting dear Alice over at her beautiful Cottage Blessings and read where she was deservedly nominated in the Catholic Blog Awards and as I read her posting I realised someone must have nominated me, as Alice mentioned I was over there.

Upon visiting their site I discovered I had been nominated for the following:

Best Designed Catholic Blog
Most Spiritual Catholic Blog
Smartest Catholic Blog

I am greatly touched that someone has thought to nominate StarryMantle since I spend most of my blogging time being inspired greatly by others, if StarryMantle has returned that inspiration, then I feel I have shown some small thanks.

You do have to log in to vote (took me AGES! These things are often IQ tests for me and that’s why I took so long to start blogging!) and I believe voting finishes on St Patrick’s feast day. (17th March)

Today is also a day to thank friends for their personal appreciation of StarryMantle. Since the birth of our little girl, my dear friend Tina over at Mary’s Muse, my Aussie friend Jenny over at He Knows My Name and the Whitestonenameseeker mum in the UK at Thinking Love, no Twaddle have all have been thoughtful in considering StarryMantle worthy of the Excellent award. Thank you girls, I am just sorry I've taken so long to publicly respond!

Blogging was something I took my time in embarking upon and it sort of happened suddenly and unexpectedly but it has been my own little haven to express and share my thoughts with those who share my ideals. It is through visiting blogs that I have had my world opened up further before me for the better and I liken it to looking into a grace-filled world through a porthole with my nose pressed up against the glass with longing and delight. It was a wonderful discovery, I felt like Columbus and I was overjoyed to see such families living such a life. It enabled me to build further upon what I knew from my childhood. I've painted a beautiful picture. But don’t get me wrong, we are all imperfect and our blogs are not necessarily meant to show those frailities in our lives but as Christians we are expected to support each other along the path to Heaven and I do feel so greatly supported as I go visiting.

Anyway, it was because of what I wrote above that I had started my own blog, to allow God’s grace freely given to me, to pass on to others. Thank you to all the 4Real and Catholic Mothers blogs for your continued inspiration. (Except my blog rolls on both are strangely down at present and I’m missing so many of you!)

Now comes the part of it all that I find stressful and frustrating, as there are so many that are good and I enjoy. The ten ladies I've nominated below have blogs that are all different from each other and I will tell you what I like about each one:

Castle of the Immaculate

Helen’s Castle (just like the picture) is a place where the fresh, bracing air blows freely with plenty of inspiration and grace, it is where I like to ‘sit’ with Helen at the feet of Our Blessed Mother, I feel guided by so much she shares, she is a real blessing to many.

Cottage Blessings

Alice’s Cottage is full of love, just like Alice herself. I go there for inspiration in celebrating feasts and living out the faith in the family and sorts of crafty and arty inspirations. I feel a resonance with her many written articles she shares.

Family in Feast and Feria

Jenn’s Feast and Feria is one that inspired me early, she opened my world to liturgical living and cooking. Jenn is generous in sharing her knowledge and we all get to benefit from her inquiring mind. And what a beautiful name for a family living the liturgical life in the home!

Sweetness and Light

Meredith’s Sweetness and Light is aptly named as I think that it also describes Meredith herself. I love her genuine sweetness to all and that she takes the time to express it. I consistently enjoy her posts and pictures, as it is never slow at Sweetness and Light!

By Sun and Candlelight

Dawn’s By Sun and Candlelight is a well loved haven by many for good reason! It is just a delight to peep into her world with her boys. My husband and children particularly love to pop in too, as they LOVE her nature photos, while they choose which one to put on the desktop for the next week.

Just Another Day in Paradise

Ruth’s Paradise is a place I like to pop in to learn something new and lovely in the living of a liturgical life. She has a BEAUTIFUL garden, and now that spring is returning over there, I’m looking forward to see again!

Real Learning

Elizabeth is an inspiration and mentor to many and I am one of those. I feel she is being a visionary in so many areas of mothering, homeschooling and just beautiful living in general in the home with your loved ones. I go there to continue receiving inspiration, carrying on from the day I finished reading her wonderful book.

A Garden of Roses and Lillies

I like how Donna-Marie’s mind works! If you find yourself reading a long post at The Garden, then let me tell you, you’re in for a treat. Of course along with her witty and intelligent mind is a beautiful heart, so it doesn’t get better than that!

Waltzing Matilda

Matilda’s ‘Waltzing’ is always zany and fun, I go there knowing I’m going to have a good laugh or read something I wasn’t expecting to, of course I enjoy her liturgical postings as well.

“Et Tu?”

Jennifer’s “Et Tu?” has a subheading of “The Diary of a Former Atheist”...now doesn’t that just tell you you're in for a good read? And Jennifer doesn’t let you down, I have enjoyed many of her postings, she has me thinking and I bet a great deal many others, probably from all walks of life!

My Perfect Mother's Prayerbook

After the birth of my little girl in January, I posted a lovely picture of her and mentioned briefly that I had a new prayerbook, Catholic Prayer Book for Mothers, that was really 'feeding' my soul - and it was. And I still feel that, so much so that I want to write more about it. I understand that the mother who wrote this book, Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle was very much encouraged by Mother Teresa to write and publish it. Here are a few encouraging words from Mother Teresa inside the book:

"My gratitude is my prayer for you that you may grow in the love of God throgh your beautiful thoughts of prayer you write and thus share with others."

"Your books on mothers and expectant mothers are much needed. Yes, you may use some of the things I said on motherhood and family...I pray that God may bless your endeavors."

"I pray that it does much good."

I had alot of physical suffering after the birth of my little girl and it had the good effect of scouring my soul and softening it. It was time (I believe through the blessing of St Anne) for a greater renewal of my motherhood, a deepening of it. This book has been the perfect prayer manual companion to keep my heart soft and continually directed to my children and my eternal destination. And I know that it is only through daily prayer that it is possible. The prayers a written in such a way to speak to my heart as well as directing my petitions for my children's heart and soul.

The book is artistically delightful, a little hardback book that can weather my handling of it and the occasional 'pouncing upon' by little chubby fingers and small enough to carry in the handbag.

You can click on any of these photos to have a better look at the layout of the pages. The pages are filled with heart touching informal prayers, poems, quotes from the saints, lovely motherly thoughts, formal prayers we all know (The Memorare, St Michael prayer, prayer to St Therese etc.) Another important addition to this book is a 'Spiritual Communion' often mothers cannot get to daily Mass but they can unite themselves spiritually with the Lord. Finally, there is a reflection at the end of each chapter, good for meditation if you wish to add a 'mini retreat' to the end of your day's or week's prayers (whenever you have time to add it in.)

To start with, when I was confinded to the bed, I read it from cover to cover but as I became more mobile and had to pick up my daily chores and activity again, I read just the prayers. To enable to me to pinpoint those chosen prayers quickly, I bought some very small heart-shaped stickers and stuck them next to the prayers I wanted to say everyday. They look sweet and blend in with the book nicely. There will be times when I will have the time to re-read everything or there will be times when I will go searching for the particular poem or refection because I know it is just what I need to read.

I have always had my 'daily prayers' ~you know, those treasured and well-loved prayers I've garnered and collected over the years from different places and books and made them 'mine.' So I put them on file on the computer and printed them up on nice lavendar paper and cut them up in such a way to make a mini-booklet that sits nicely at the back.

I do recommend this book, it is not expensive and I have now decided to have a few on hand as they make beautiful gifts for mothers who have just had a baby (whether it is a new mother or a mother of ten.)

There has been alot of talk recently on attachment parenting and a new Catholic mother's attachment parenting e-group has just started Hold Onto Your Catholic Kids, and I really think this is the perfect 'attachment parenting' prayer book for mothers!

Tuesday is St Anne's Day

It is a lovely sentiment to offer special acts of love and devotion to a saint on ‘their’ special day of the week.

Think about it.

How touching it would be if my husband brought home flowers for me every Friday evening or if my children were to make me breakfast in bed every Saturday morning without fail. So it must feel in the hearts of our heavenly friends, when we send them our loving ‘salute’ on a day that was meaningful and blessed whilst they were still upon earth. The day chosen was never just any day, it was special to them and to heaven, often it was the day of the week they died in the fragrance of His love. It would be like my husband choosing Fridays to give me flowers because it was the day we first met.

I had read over at 4 Real recently a thread, Struggles as a new convert where there's been a conversation about converts and their adjustments to new rituals/prayers (eg: the Mass) and I remember one lady stating,

“Theology I get, but it is so hard to form personal habits of devotion when you have no model.”

I thought this was a very interesting point.

I am blessed (these beautiful free gifts of grace from God) to have a natural attraction for honouring these days (I just need to be more consistantly faithful) only because my own mother and my father’s mother (nana) both have/had a great love for St Anthony who also shares Tuesdays with St Anne. They would often recite special prayers, remembering him at Mass, offering their Holy Communions in his honour, thanking God for giving this saint so many graces as everything is ultimately Christ-centered, we acknowledge His grace in their lives. I was aware of the significance of devotional days. This was a great blessing.

And I know that by my own expression of this devotion I deeply impress the minds and hearts of my children - it was passed onto me and now I pass it on to them - this holy devotional practice will continue on as it has throughout the many centuries in the past. ~It’s a beautiful thought~

The holy and heroic Fr John Hardon relates he was profoundly affected by his mother’s life time example of abstaining from certain foods in honor of Our Lady on Saturdays. What did it impress upon the young John? He had a very deep love for Our Lady – for it’s what we DO rather than what we say that speaks with such strength to our children’s minds and hearts.

Tuesday is the day dedicated to St Anne. It has come down from ancient times in tradition that her grandson Jesus had spoken to his grandmother,

"Blessed art thou, My beloved grandparent! All who venerate thee shall have blessings for soul and body. If they invoke thee in their needs, I will hear them for thy name's sake. Since thou dost die on a Tuesday, I appoint this day for thy honor, and I will grant the prayers of all who honor thee on this day." Good St Anne. pg 40

And so St Anne obtains many graces and blessings for those who heed her Divine Grandson's words. It is also a devotion that is pleasing to the Virgin Mary. She has revealed to different saints her joy and desire for such a devotion to be practised, for she being a perfect daughter, wishes to see her own holy mother honoured.

So how can we show special devotion to St Anne on Tuesdays? The highest form of praise is by offering our Holy Communions in thanksgiving for graces God bestowed on his grandmother. If we are unable to attend daily Mass, maybe making the effort to attend every Tuesday or on a Tuesday where we can. Some devotees have made a novena of nine Tuesdays when asking for very speical graces. Of course any prayers offered to her is pleasing. Maybe the Litany to St Anne or her own memorare?

"St Gertrude beheld in a vision how pleasing it is to the Saints if we thank God for the graces He has bestowed upon them. It was revealed to her that those who do this will be adorned with the merits of the Saints they thus honor." Good St. Anne pg 41

Of course I mentioned the lovely little story of Fr Hardon's mother, whereby she went without in order to honour and please God in honouring His masterpiece of creation - His mother. We cannot underestimate how pleasing sacrifice is in God's eyes and how efficacious it is in defeating the devil. The Bible tells us,

"Some things are cast out by prayer and fasting." (Mat 17:20)

and "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church" (Col 1:24)

They are quotes we should remind ourselves of as often as possible and act upon it. In refraining from some pleasure we are 'fasting' and so to go without our favourite 'thing' during a day (maybe the morning coffee?...no use of sugar for the day etc) is a beautiful offering indeed, to the Saint we wish to honour.

There is a lovely story in the Good St Anne manual about the holy death of a lady who had great devotion to St Anne throughout her life, I won't share the story in full today but save it for a posting on St Anne, the patroness of a happy death in the future, but what I do want to say is that it was related to the priest afterwards, who attended at her death, that she had abstained from milk every Tuesday all her life and this lady died in the arms of the sacraments under extrodinary circumstances...

Next Tuesday I want to talk about how we can make the most of these Tuesdays with our family, with some prayers included and the week after, share a personal story of how St Anne can show her tangible interecessory power on our behalf through her special day.

Come and join me on Tuesdays!

I hope you can pop in and visit me on the Tuesdays of this year as I spend time chatting about Saint Anne, the mother of Our Lady. If you are a devotee to Mary, you will in time learn why devotion to her own mother is so pleasing to her.

She is the perfect patroness for Christian Mothers - in all our needs. I have so much to thank her for over the years, she has never let me down but only chooses to bless me in more deeper ways than I expected...

My "Tuesdays with Saint Anne" image is of my own little altar I have in my lounge (on top of my sorting centre) set up in her honour. The statue had only arrived in the mail yesterday morning from New York, as I had previously a framed picture there in it's place, it can now go back in my bedroom... I have my St Anne chaplet and her prayer manual, as well as St Anne's Holy Oil. And the little Russian Icon with Our Lady and the Child Jesus in the forefront and St Anne and St Joachim on either side, well that treasured picture is a story in itself and I'll save it for a Tuesday to come....

I do hope you can drop in on Tuesdays, if you can't visit that regularly, the postings will be under 'labels' in my sidebar.

My first Tuesday will talking about why 'Tuesdays' are special, in devotion to St Anne.

God bless, Anne