Praying for a beautiful friend

I would love to invite anyone who would like to join with me, offering two novenas for a beautiful friend Melinda, a Catholic mother of six young children living in Australia, who has advanced renal cancer and secondaries.

Melinda

In Australia is the 14th of April and we are starting the first of the two novenas today. The second novena which follows directly on from the the first, will finish on the 1st of May, Divine Mercy Sunday and the beatification day of Pope John Paul II.

We pray with great hope!

Firstly, inspired by this wonderful miracle that was used for the beatification of Pope John XXIII.

Secondly, because I read in the latest Fidelity magazine (an Australian publication) and also in the worldwide, Love One Another magazine, of a incredible miracle that took place through the intercession of Juan Diego, The miracle was around the time of Juan Diego’s beatification and was the miracle used for his canonization.

A man, Jose Silva, plunged over 30 feet or 10 metres to the ground, landing directly on his head on concrete, he struck the concrete with an estimated force of two tons. His mother who witnessed this cried out to Juan Diego to interceed for her son. She continued to pray fervently over the next 10 days. This happened a couple of days before the beatification of Juan, the fact that he even survived the fall was a miracle, testified by the doctors. Then he turned a complete corner in healing on the beatification day of Juan Diego ~ he walked out of hospital 10 days after the accident and all traces of damage and injury to his head and brain had vanished, all verified by the doctors.

So we pray for Melinda for complete healing, especially around this joyful time of Pope John Paul II’s beatification.

Please pass this novena on to as many people you can think of, who would like to join and many thanks in advance!

NOVENA PRAYER

We believe in God’s everlasting love for all and through faith and great confidence in that love, our petitions will be granted. Therefore in the desire to promote God’s greater honour and glory we pray through the intercession of Pope John Paul II for the healing of Melinda.

O Blessed Trinity, we thank Thee for having graced the Church with Pope John Paul II, and for allowing the tenderness of your fatherly care, the glory of the Cross of Christ and the splendor of the Holy Spirit to shine through him. Trusting fully in your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of Mary he has given us a living image of Jesus the good shepherd and has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you. Grant us by his intercession and according to your will, the graces we implore, the healing of Melinda, hoping that he will soon be numbered among your saints. Amen

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.

UPDATE: I am very sad to add here that Melinda passed away, day eight of the first novena, on the morning of Holy Thursday, the beginning of the Triduum. We continue to offer the novenas for Melinda, for her soul and for her family, her six children who are now without their earthly mother. Many thanks to all those continuing to join in prayer for Melinda.

40 Days for Life ~ THE CALL

Breaking my lenten quiet with something very special and appropriate for these 40 days. My dearest friend's daughter has provided the utterly flawless voice (she is 15) and her dh and friend the music and overall production. Please feel free to share this inspiration for LIFE, around! The gorgeous song comes from the movie Prince Caspian, "The Call".

Anna's Jesse Tree

My dear friend Anna from Fountain Resources has shared with me her beautiful Jesse Tree that she created. You will surely agree with me when I say that her phenomenal talent and creativity is evident throughout!

Anna has based this craft on Geraldine McCaughrean's book The Jesse Tree.

The Jesse Tree starts off with brown leaves that have a reflection on each leaf (and activities to do, such as sacrifices, virtues, etc.) ....

Each day a brown leaf is replaced by the symbol of the day which is on a green leave and then Anna places a Star of Bethlehem flower (made from balsa wood and string) next to each leaf.

I hope this photos have blessed and inspired you as much as they have me!

It's DEFINATELY not too late to be making St Martin Lanterns!

...Because Charlotte over at Waltzing Matilda has given us the easiest lanterns to make that look simply fantastic!!! I'm still short one, so my worries are now over. Pop on over and she how she did it!

A blessed family

Family ties: Bede's baptism last year was a day of great joy for the Adeney family (back from left) Luke, Leo, Warwick and Ambrose, Bede's godfather Michael Byrne, Eleanor and Esther; and (front) Peter, Michele, Bede and Edwyn

This full page article was published in the Catholic Leader last weekend. They are blessed friends who have always inspired me, there story below will definately inspire you!

"IT didn't take long to feel right at home with Michele and Warwick Adeney.

Warwick's humble presence met my daughters and I at the Milton address, a stone's throw from Brisbane city, at the end of a narrow "No Through" street where much renovation is taking place in and around them.

Before long Michele greets us inside, cradling 10-month-old Bede Benedict, the couple's youngest of eight children, and the warm welcome continued.

My girls were drawn to the treehouse with Ambrose Lawrence, 3, Leo Francis Geoffrey, 5, Edwyn Gregory, 8, and Peter Jerome, 10.

Eldest son, Luke Oliver, 18, was away studying radiography while daughters Esther Mary, 15, and Eleanor Madonna, 13, were in the city "busking".

Sitting at the Adeneys' kitchen table, still adorned with a dozen red long-stemmed roses from Warwick's September appearance at Faith on Tap, so continued a delightful conversation with the co-concertmaster and first violinist of Queensland Orchestra, and his wife of almost 25 years.

Amid everything - a lively household plus construction next door and plans for their own kitchen to be "moved" downstairs - there was a certain peace and it emanated from the charming couple themselves, both new Catholics following their 1985 marriage.

"We're very excited to have found the Catholic Church," Michele said almost immediately, still nursing bright-eyed Bede whose arrival came after the family attended World Youth Day last year.

"As a Protestant I was always trying to get to the bottom of things myself ... Now I have that fantastic history of the (Catholic) Church to fall back on ... and its wisdom."

Looking much further back Michele admitted that at 15 she "had a crush on Warwick", a non-practising Anglican, and convinced him she'd "make a nice girlfriend".

Their paths had crossed at the Conservatorium of Music, Brisbane, Michele on a scholarship for the viola.

During their "three-year courtship" the statuesque woman of faith almost "jilted Warwick in a letter" because he wasn't practising his faith.

But then God worked.

"At that point Warwick said to me, 'I don't feel like God is there but it all makes intellectual good sense and I'm going to read the Bible and pray more ...'

"God really met him where he was and he became quite a zealous Christian."

The couple then went through what Michele described as their "high Anglican phase" and married.

Soonafter, drawn to a Pentecostal church, Michele spoke of their shared conversion to Catholicism.

"There's a wonderful big family in Brisbane - Margaret Wallace and her boys," she began.

"I've had all my babies at home and I had a cracked rib (when pregnant with Esther) and my midwife said, 'You should speak to this lady, she's expecting her ninth child and also has had cracked ribs and it's a privilege to be in her home and, by the way, she's Catholic'."

Saying they were "unhappy" in their Pentecostal community, the meeting led to Warwick and Michele being received into full communion with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil in Dorrington parish before Esther was born - hence the inclusion of Mary in Esther's name and a saint or holy name in the name of each child after.

While the Adeneys were "childless for six years" after they married and Michele, at one stage, felt more called to "take care of children without homes", caring for two teenage wards of the state three years into their marriage opened their eyes.

"It was a big learning curve," Michele said.

"You don't realise how deep-seated people's problems will be if they haven't come from a loving, happy family.

"Even if it's a single parent ... if it's not a happy home it's hard for kids to make the right decisions later in life.

"So many things that people do that aren't sensible or wise come from not being happy in childhood and not being grounded."

Michele and Warwick, who have home-schooled and will continue to home-school all their children until Year 11 - Luke went to a Marist college in Year 11 and 12, and Esther is in Year 11 next year - believe in the "quantity time theory".

"Whether parents work or not, if they can just be with their children as much as possible it's very important," Michele said, backed up by Warwick who performs almost all-year round to hundreds of thousands of classical music lovers here and abroad.

"I think it's a constant struggle (to find that quantity time)," he said.

"(And) we always talk about the dynamism of doing other things - work things, house things, things for other people or neighbours, things we should be involved in, like politics.

"There are so many things one should be involved in outside the home and of course you should be - you can't just shut the door and say, 'We need family time and that's it'.

"You always need to keep talking about these things and about how to divide it (time) up - you just can't lock yourself in, (and) a mother can't be home all the time as she goes spare."

The Adeneys' day is fascinating, beginning with Michele's morning walk for that "time" to herself.

Esther and Eleanor "wake by 8am and pray, eat breakfast, dress and do their jobs" before 8.30am, Warwick explains, while the younger boys do the same routine before 9am and he "sets the maths and English" schedule for the day with the girls.

The family prays together at 9am - including a morning offering, The Lord's Prayer, a proclamation of the Gospel of the day, reflection and their own prayers plus one child "leads a Hail Mary, Glory Be and (an) Angel of God".

Warwick then leaves for work on his bicycle.

Michele remains "on hand" for studies dur-ing the day and encourages oral dialogues where the children research and present particular topics.

Other hours are spent musically or at sport, each child proficient on the piano plus either the cello, flute or harp.

The maestro extraordinaire returns some time before 5pm, often earlier, his "flexible hours" allowing him to be more present and available to the family, Michele said.

They aim to eat the evening meal together, Warwick adamant of its importance.

"It's important not to skimp on dinner together," he said, adding other priorities.

"We always make sure we have morning prayer, that we have dinner (together) and say the Rosary.

"Now we (also) have adoration weekly as a family."

So accustomed are the Adeney children to prayer, the girls reminded their parents of the absence of the Rosary recently, Warwick saying, "They harassed us into being more consistent."

He also admitted "often nobody's asleep at eleven o'clock at night ... (but) it works for us".

Encouraging their children to follow their own dreams and not necessarily a musical career, Michele and Warwick were humorous and philosophical.

"We thought the girls' future was at McDonalds," Warwick said, grinning, his wife adding, "(But) they can get anything from sixty to one-hundred-and-twenty dollars for an hour-and-a-quarter, busking."

On a more serious note, Warwick said, "One thing Michele and I agreed when we read the lives of the saints was that many had ordered, happy, settled childhoods - (like) Francis of Assisi and St Therese of Lisieux ..."

"Any parent knows it's not a bed of roses (raising children) ... (but) our idea of parenthood is based on the greenhouse effect," Michele added.

"A young plant, you let grow strong before you plant it out," she said. "

Another soul for heaven...

Today, I was greatly shocked to hear the news that my friend Colleen from the States had lost her precious baby Bryce. He had died in his sleep... I am just so very heartbroken.

..I rejoiced earlier this year when Bryce was baptised on the feast of St Anne. And now I grieve for this boy's very short journey through life, into Eternal Life..while I am happy that Bryce is a saint in heaven, I feel greatly for Colleen, Greg and the boys..please remember this dear family in prayer.

A special memorial fund has been set up to help ease the financial difficulties that are a part of a loss such as this. As Elizabeth said, it is not as though we can drop in a cooked meal, help out in any small way...we can only pray and support them with a donation that can help remove another uneccessary worry on top everything else.

Oh, Mary Conceived Without Sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee! Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us! St Anne, pray for us!

A soul for heaven..

I am so deeply sorry to update with the news that Mary Ellen's boy Ryan has died.

Mary Ellen wrote a few years about Ryan in an article called, Yes, and a Friar Too!

Please pray for Mary Ellen and the whole family, the loss of a child is unimaginable.

Our Lady, Assumed into Heaven, enfold Ryan in your heavenly mantle!

Prayers needed for those at the Bonny Blue House

Over at 4Real a prayer request has just come in for Mary Ellen's boy Ryan, please pray for this boy's quick and safe return! :

"Mary Ellen Barrett's son, Ryan left for a father/son camping trip on Thurs.. morning. At this time he has not been seen since 5:00 Thursday night.

Mary Ellen is imploring all of us for prayers. She has been driven up to the campsite with a friend and so far there is no news.

Please, pray for protection, safety, and a speedy return of Ryan to all of us who love him. Updates are sporadic, but I will post when there is news. Thank you for all your love and prayers for Mary Ellen and Dave and Ryan. "

Please lift Mary Ellen up in prayer, her fear must be great. Ask Our Lady to place her mantle over Ryan, protect him from all danger and bring him home safely to his family that love him.

On the feast of St Martha...

Matthew Karol Snow entered into the Presence of God.

St Martha was a biblical lady of immense faith in God, in grief and sorrow, she knew what the larger and eternal 'picture' was. Martha's words were an extraordinary profession of faith - faith in God, no matter what His Divine Will may be.

John 11: 20 -27

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

What I have witnessed in Emily during this whole journey, from it's beginning, is this extraordinary trust and faith in God, no matter what. In the midst of her sorrow, worry, grief, she acknowledged that even if Matthew were to die, that he would live - live in Christ.

St Matthew Karol Snow - pray for us!

Meeting dear online friends IRL

My family and I were very blessed to have a lovely blogging friend and her family come and stay with us last weekend. Here we are - myself to the left albeit a bit bleary-eyed (one celebratory champagne at Erin's nephew's baptism? Maybe...) And a sparkling Erin and bubs!

Erin of course has her beautiful blog, Seven Little Australians plus One and thanks to her we have the Faith Filled Days website, where ladies can link into the best of liturgical living and planning throughout the year.

Erin and I met before we both started blogging, very briefly at a funeral a few years ago. It was then we discovered we had a very special, mutual friend. Later, thanks to Erin, my world opened wider and more wonderfully, as I was introduced to 4Real and blogging was the lovely flow-on effect from there.

So it was wonderful to have her dh and her whole family stay Saturday night, where the children all hit it off fabulously and what a blessed bunch of children Erin has, in all ways!

These moments are all too brief and Australia is a big, wide country...God willing we will meet again whenever we had back down to Sydney....somewhere in the future.

Erin has more photos in her posting Journey North.

Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

Happy and Blessed Feast Day to you all!

Today we went to Marian Valley for this special feast with a lovely blogging friend and her sweet daughter!

This time last year I had desperately wanted to go but I was feeling deathly weak, being in the grip of a nasty heart virus...I was bawling my eyes out and begging Our Lady to heal me in that 150th anniversary year.....here I am today, very well and very much recovered from any heart troubles or complaints, in otherwords, deeply grateful.

The night before I had tried my hand at making the blueberry muffins Jessica suggested over at Catholic Cuisine but I couldn't quite create the 'break open and ooze' look to them but everyone enjoyed them.

I even tried to make a batch with chocolate inside but they definately didn't ooze, so I'll have to re-think how I would do it next year... editing to add, I've found the right recipe for this, Carmel Easter Egg Muffins!

My children and my friend's daughter were part of the beautiful procession for the day. The shrine goes to alot of trouble to dress the children for this honour, they always have so much fun together.

Here they pass... my Faustina was so happy to have her best friend with her, a special treat!

This is a special photo and it was a scene that moved one particular lady that day. This lady came up to me later and said she had made some of the banners for the shrine, the one above - the St Michael banner, is one of them.

When she saw my friend's daughter carrying it, she remembered her own daughter from 18 years ago, one that she did not hold in her arms for long in this world, a little Down Syndrome girl.

It was the passing of her daughter that had brought this lady back to her faith....she'd had a dream that her daughter had come to her saying she was with Jesus...

To see this sweet and lovely girl carrying the banner she made, moved her greatly.

Look at them all! Aren't they too cute for themselves?? What a lovely bunch of children and all waiting patiently for the procession to start...

My Ambrose, holding onto that bell for dear life. He had the honoured roll of ringing for Our Lord.

Francis leading the Eucharistic procession to the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes.

The children process by, throwing petals and saying, "I adore you Jesus."

Winding their way to the beautiful nature-filled shrine.

Father, holding the monstrance and just been seen at the foot of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Processing back to the chapel for benediction.

Each year for this feast the Fathers have everyone come up for an individual blessing with Our Lord in the monstrance.

It is truly the highlight of the day.

Father had just given the most beautiful sermon on woundedness - all the different types - spiritual, emotional, physical. It had me thinking, I walked away edified and renewed in my need to pray for healing in all with faith and trust. He had asked us to ask God to heal our wounds as we received the individual blessing and to remember that Our Lady was standing by our sides with her hand on our shoulders (like in confirmation) asking for her Divine Son to intercede for us.

After the individual Eucharistic blessing, each person walked by my Francis and dipped their hand in the bowl of Lourdes water.

" Hey! Where are you off to, dear boy?? "

....off to have a good time, let me assure you!

My children have blogger names in honour of their confirmation saint, or the saint they love!