this gorgeous statue of a young Padre Pio made a week long visit to our parish
Old St. Pat's St. Joseph altar in the Year of St. Joseph
the toddlers and the pup watch Dom Uncle split wood (Indian custom puts the aunt/uncle title after the name)
my baby with her babies, oh my heart...
Gpop and the twins
Their friend, Sylvia, has a birthday one week before, so they celebrated together on fat Tuesday with pancakes.
In honor of their birthday I want to share this sweet story about Vange. He was with me at the Ash Wednesday Mass. I gave each twin a little round mint to keep them happy during the consecration. Vange held onto his instead of putting it in his mouth and immediately asking for more as he usually does. At the communion rail, Deacon blessed him then communicated me. Vange, reverently, then put the mint in his mouth.
Vange 'chopping' wood.
Thea Mea drinking tea.
Idalena's first Ash Wednesday
In March of 2019, a month after our first grandchildren were born, our septic system failed. Unsure of how to pay the hefty cost of replacement, we limped along for a while with short showers, limited flushes, and dumping grey water. In the fall of 2019 we took out a loan to replace the septic field and the roof. In the middle of roofing, a storm ripped the tarps off the roof and we had massive water damage to the second floor.
We lived in three different places while our house was being repaired. (thank goodness homeowners insurance covered most of that.) During that time the coronavirus hit the country and our state went into lockdown. We were in a hotel at the time. Fortunately the insurance company managed to find a rental house which gave us more space. The house was around the corner from my childhood home, so the kids and I enjoyed walking, going to parks, and the river in my old stomping grounds. We were also close enough to walk to my parents home. Many small comforts and blessings during a difficult time.
It was a very difficult time, between fears of the virus, quarantine/lockdown restrictions, ill family, not being at home, major home restoration, St. A's classes online, and worst of all, closed churches. No Masses.
No access to sacraments was the deepest cut.
Gradually churches opened with limited capacity and we were able to move back into our house. It has certainly been a process of rebuilding home and family life. A lasting lesson in the profound value of faith and family. Hearth and home. And we are beyond grateful to have it back.
I have always had an special devotion to Christ the King. I was baptized on that feast day. Our local Catholic bookstore had a gorgeous canvas print of Christ the King by Charles Bosseron Chambers. We splurged, and now it lives above our mantel. It is gorgeous! We don't have the kind of house for great art, but we have that kind of God. He is our King, our All, our Everything.
Father Tom came over to bless the house and bless the picture, that it might be a blessing to all who see it.
We didn't manage any pictures of the blessing, but took a few of the birthday celebration for Monica and Dominic afterward.
Once upon a time, in a little country church, after Mass, a young lady invited her friend to accompany her on a road trip. It was determined that there were too many people going for the small vehicle so the friend went on home. By the time she was home, the young lady's father had suggested the use of his larger vehicle, so the friend and her mother packed her up in record time, and she spent that Thanksgiving visiting Wyoming Catholic College with the young lady and her brother and his wife. The friend, who had been unable to decide on a college, found herself delighted with campus life at WCC. She happened to cross paths with a young man there ( a comrade of the young lady's brother); tall, dark, and handsome, full of life and charisma. She did not make her decision based on her interest in him, but she hoped they might be friends when she arrived on campus as a freshmen in the fall.
Monica was not far into her freshmen year at WCC when Inshal called Kevin to ask for his permission to date her. The couple approached dating as a means to discern whether they were suited for marriage. They did not begin to date casually, but with much prayer and guidance from mentors. Our family and friends met him when he came to visit for a New Year's Eve celebration. Kevin and I met Inshal's family, and they met Monica, when we traveled to WCC for his graduation. That summer Inshal called Kevin again to ask permission to marry Monica. Then he proposed in the little campus chapel, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart.
One year later, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, in that little country church, they were married.
The young lady who had begun the whole thing, along with her brother and his wife, also played important parts in this wedding. In fact every part of this wedding involved people with whom we were already connected, and every decision had meaning behind it. The weather was gorgeous. God cleared many paths and blessed the day beyond imagining. The wedding day was abundant with love and joy, truly befitting the Feast of His Sacred Heart.
the men praying a rosary before the ceremony
Acts 1:8 (NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Two of our children were confirmed in the Holy Spirit. It is a privilege and a joy to prepare our children for the sacraments. Our parish is generous with the homeschooling families, allowing us some flexibility in our preparations. Dominic and Maria were a joy to prepare together.
Pier Giorgio Frassati, be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.
(His Excellency only allowed one camera, no flash, so I was very glad to have this picture! Blurry is better than none!!)
Cecilia, be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.
with Monica, Maria's sponsor
with Inshal, Dominic's sponsor
cousin Will before serving the Confirmation Mass
Father Tom with his 2018 Confirmation Class
Forty days before the wedding, on the Feast of St. Louis de Montfort, we hosted a bridal shower for Monica. The feast day was especially appropriate. When Monica and Inshal began dating and discerning that their relationship might lead to marriage, they made the Marion consecration together.
Our friend, Jenny, offered her lovely home and her talented cooking. The weather cooperated to give us a perfect spring afternoon for family and friends to shower Monica with love and gifts for her newlywed home.
We made up the name 'Inshonica' to use for them as a couple. :)
Monica's future mother and sister-in-law meet Grandma while Aunt Shelagh greets Monica
Galbraith Girls
With great joy, we witnessed the baptism of our new Godson, Simon David. Welcome to God's Church little man!! We will pray for you always.
Kevin took some kids up north to visit his extended family and explore the family farm, still farmed by his uncle and cousin, and the Mary shrine, built by many of his uncles and grandfather. Deep Michigan roots! The Frank and Judy branch of the Galbraith clan. Kari, Kevin, Bill, and Frank.
cousins... that's Maria's happy face
All four girls wore this dress sand veil for their First Holy Communions, and usually a Mary crowning, and Corpus Christi procession. All four. Glorious memories. Today Lydia wore it for the last time. I'll have it professionally cleaned and stored. Maybe one day a granddaughter will wear it.
excuse the enormous, blurry picture. i cropped it down and can't seem to resize it.
Our parish does a wonderful Corpus Christi procession. This year we were blessed to share it with our two new priests; our pastor Fr. Tom, and a visiting priest, Fr. Joseph. All our men were on canopy, Dominic served, Blaise sang, and Lydia strewed flowers with the other First Communicants. (We are an organizer's dream: one phone call and you get all four canopy bearers, roughly the same height. LOL)
The Divine Praises
Blessed be God.
Blessed be His Holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most Holy.
Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her Glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints. Amen.