Wednesday, December 8, 2010

SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

What are you doing?

What are you doing with your families this Advent season? Are you reviving old traditions or starting new ones? Please share your ideas with others here by leaving a comment.

You can go over to my View From the Domestic Church blog for an Advent Reflection.

God bless you!

Donna-Marie

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Catholic Moms of North East, Ohio Adoring Our Lord!

Recently Tina O. Keller let me know that her group had completed the study of my book The Domestic Church: Room By Room: A Mother's Study Guide. She said, "Our Catholic Mom's Group just had the finale for our Book Study of The Domestic Church: Room by Room. We loved it! Thank you so much for your inspiration & knowledge! :)"

And I would like to share that this group started a beautiful tradition of bringing their children to a weekly hour of Adoration. Specifically, Tina explained:
"Through the imitation of our Blessed Mary, the Mother of our Dear Savior Jesus Christ, we can help each other to grow in the Catholic Faith and become the Mothers that God wants us to be. The Catholic Mom's Group of North East Ohio is a group of Catholic Women (all at different levels in their Catholic Journey) looking for fellowship, encouragement, inspiration, devotions, book studies, play dates, pray dates and friendship! We meet on & off line and offer events with & without our children, as well as fun events for the whole family! This group is for Catholic moms who are looking for support in their role as mother. The Catholic Moms Group of Akron & Surrounding Areas is for mothers who are currently practicing Catholics or those who wish to become so.


We participate in a weekly adoration hour. We do split it up with the little ones, and just do Half hour segments. But we always have at least one member of our group at each time segment. We call it "Ultimate Meetup with Jesus" (Our site we use for our calendar and online group is through meetup.com, so we call our activities meetups) We chose to do this to expose our children and teach them about Adoration and learn how to spend time with Jesus. We do it every week and make it fun for them, we close our Adoration hour by singing the "Hail Mary". It's amazing how much a toddlers even enjoy it and look forward to the time with Jesus. My three year old always tells her daddy that we are going to see Jesus at his house & mama Mary. She knows at three that Jesus & Mary Love her. Each week we follow up our Adoration Hour with Lunch & Playing at the Park. Our kids are getting into the routine. We believe it's a great way to teach them to make a Holy Hour and a wonderful way to learn to spend time with Jesus."

What an inspiration these mothers and families are! Perhaps others will want to follow in their footsteps and start their own groups.

Here are some precious photos of the families...

 



 
God bless you all! It's wonderful that you are raising your families with faith and love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. May God continue to bless you all abundantly as you set a vital example to your families and others, helping them to find their way to Heaven!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Review: Mother Teresa and Me: Ten Years of Friendship

Autographed copies available
at http://www.donnacooperoboyle.com/
To read about Bl. Mother Teresa on such a personal level inspires me to do all I can to see Christ in everyone I meet. This frail but feisty soul taught the entire world that God will work through us to touch others; we just have to let Him. In Mother Teresa and Me, Donna-Marie gives us a peek into their private ten-year friendship so that each of us, in our own way, can continue Bl. Mother Teresa's mission of responding to Jesus' words, "I thirst." Through this inspirational and loving tribute, we find that it is in giving away our love that we, in turn, love our God.


~Nancy Carabio Belanger, award-winning author of Olivia and the Little Way

Friday, September 17, 2010

Prints of Grace: A Catholic Woman's Book of Prayers

Prints of Grace: A Catholic Woman's Book of Prayers: " If I only knew Catholic wife, author, and mother of five Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle from reading her books, I would have been looking f..."

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Marking the centennial of Blessed Mother Teresa

This month marks the centennial celebration of Blessed Mother Teresa's birth. I can't wait to go and buy my Mother Teresa stamps later on this month from the US post office. I plan to use the stamps far and wide!

Here's a link to a recent blog post I have on Blessed Mother Teresa on the Goodness Reigns website.

God bless you!

Keep smiling and bringing love and cheer to others!

Donna-Marie

Daily Donna-Marie: A Dose of Inspiration: Review of my book in the National Catholic Registe...

Daily Donna-Marie: A Dose of Inspiration: Review of my book in the National Catholic Registe...: "Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle was raising a family 20 years ago when she unexpectedly met Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Over the next 10 years, n..."

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Racks and ruin

Racks and ruin

An excellent article by a fellow Catholic writer (above).

Friday, June 25, 2010

busy summer days!

Be sure to check out my blog "View From the Domestic Church" because I am posting a lot less lately on this blog and my others due to time constraints. I'm still thinking of you though and praying for you too! But, you will find me over at "View From the Domestic Church"! Stop back here too for the times I may be fortunate enough to post something for you!

God bless you!
hugs,
Donna-Marie

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Summertime Book Contest!


It's not too late to enter my contest: "Grace Cafe: Take Me Away" to win a copy of my book Grace Cafe for your summer reading. Details are here:

From the back cover:

"Grace Cafe nourished this mother's hungry soul with heaping portions of tenderness, encouragement, and Christian sisterhood. If you have ever wondered how to fit prayer into your busy life, how to embrace the piles of dirty laundry, how to put aside chores and savor everyday moments, take a seat in Grace Cafe and order up exactly what your tired heart, body, and soul has been longing for."~Mary De Turris Poust, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Catholic Catechism

Thursday, May 13, 2010

I'll be on KBVM with Dina Marie on Friday morning

I will be speaking with Dina Marie Hale, KBVM program director about MARY and MOTHERHOOD tomorrow (Friday) at 11:00 AM Eastern Standard time. The Radio station is KBVM 88.3 FM out of Portland, OR. You can listen LIVE at www.kbvm.fm. The station is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. That's where the "K-BVM" comes from!

I hope that you can join us!

God bless you!

Donna-Marie

Our Lady of Fatima's feast day!

Monday, May 10, 2010

My new Mother Teresa blog


(Photo is of my son, Joseph with Mother Teresa)
Check out my new Mother Teresa blog on the Goodness Reigns website

"Today we celebrate mothers! Among celebrating our own mothers, we would like also to recognize those who ‘mother’ not necessarily their biological children but all children of God–those who have chosen a religious vocation or perhaps teach or serve among the laity. On this Mother’s Day we’d like to begin a series of excerpts from Donna Marie Cooper-O’Boyle’s book 'Mother Teresa and Me: Ten Years of Friendship.'

Continued here on the Goodness Reigns website.

Face Book fan page

For all of you who are on Face Book - join my fan page (in the left column here). You'll be updated on lots of good stuff. :)

Mother's Day!

I hope all of you wonderful mothers and spiritual mothers had a very lovely day yesterday! I was enjoying my ducklings - not all quite in a row - one was in Paris. I'll be back later to share a photo or two.

God bless and hugs!

Donna-Marie

Friday, May 7, 2010

Monday, April 26, 2010

Lisa Hendey's "The Handbook for Catholic Moms"


Kate Wicker interviews Lisa Hendey about her new book:

1. Tell us a little bit about your new book, The Handbook for Catholic Moms: Nurturing Your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul. It almost appears to serve as a primer for "all things Catholic Mom." In fact, I feel like I now have a book that compiles many of the great wisdom and resources that is shared on your CatholicMom.com site. What prompted you to write the book? What are some of the topics you cover?

First of all Kate, thank you for the wonderful opportunity to share about my book with your readers! As a fan of your blog, it’s very fun to be a guest on Momopoly, I think you’re on target when you call The Handbook for Catholic Moms a great companion piece to CatholicMom.com. This was our goal from the start with the book, to provide a lasting, cumulative resource that would serve as the “go to” reference for Catholic Moms.

I was encouraged to take on this project in collaboration with my wonderful publisher, Ave Maria Press, who recognized the work we’d accomplished through the website and wanted to provide me with an even larger and more lasting platform to support and encourage Catholic moms. I can’t thank them enough for their belief in me and for their conviction that this was an important message to share.

As you know, the book is aimed at supporting and encouraging Catholic moms in their mothering vocation. I am convinced that for us to truly serve our families, we need to nurture and take care of ourselves. The book is divided into four sections: Heart, Mind, Body and Soul. The Heart section looks at our relationships. Mind explores all of the intellectual pursuits in a mom’s life – everything from career issues to handling family finances. The Body section of the book urges a mom to care for herself physically. The Soul section, my favorite part of the book, shares all of the wonderful treasures of our faith that can be used by a mom to nurture herself spiritually.

Go to Kate's blog to see the review here.

Inspire: Imitating Mother Teresa by Recognizing Calcutta in Our Midst - Catholic Online

Inspire: Imitating Mother Teresa by Recognizing Calcutta in Our Midst - Catholic Online

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Small Opportunities to be saintly surround us...


Small Opportunities to Be Saintly Surround Us

No, we don’t need to take a course in sanctity to become a saint one day– it’s all mapped out for us and right under our noses...

Check out my latest installment about the saints for youth at the Goodness Reigns website here.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Exciting News: "Everyday Blessings for Catholic Moms" premieres Monday, April 12th!


Praised be to God! I just got word from my EWTN producer who told me that "Everyday Blessings for Catholic Moms" will premiere this Monday, April 12th! The first one will air right before the Mass which is broadcast at 8:00am Eastern. So, if you turn your TV on about 15min before the Mass you should catch it. Another spot is set to air at exactly 6:20pm Monday night. These will be two separate episodes. I'm looking forward to seeing how they come out. :) I hope they will be inspiring to Catholic Moms everywhere. I hope you'll be able to catch them on Monday to hopefully give you a healthy dose of inspiration for your day. Please stop back and let me know what you think. Twenty five episodes have been taped so far and if they are well-received, God willing, I will do more.

God bless your week end, especially Divine Mercy Sunday!

hugs,

Donna-Marie

Friday, March 26, 2010

The Domestic Church study group!


"Domestic Church: The Living Room was HARD CORE! Thank you for being so honest and straight talking to us Catholic moms...we need to hear this in this day and age where society brain-washes you to believe differently! It truly was my life in a nutshell the last 20 months! Oh goodness! Our last book study meeting was... amazing lots of crying and lots of laughing! Thank you for your books!! I'm also really enjoying Prayerfully Expecting! Love all of the prayers for my unborn babe and my children! :) Hugs! ♥ Erika"

***

Thank you very much, Erika! May God bless your study group and the remainder of your pregnancy! Big hugs to you! ♥

Thursday, March 25, 2010

The Heart of Motherhood


"I've read MANY books about being Catholic, being a Mom & being a Catholic Mom...but none of them have touched my heart & mind the way this one did. It was SO common sense about how to weave our Catholicity into our daily lives when there are children at our feet before 5 AM (when it's near impossible to get up before them to pray...even if we really, really want to) and at night, we just pass out, not fall asleep. I read this book twice, have MUCH highlighting throughout & even bought a 2nd copy to give to my sil for her birthday this past Feb. Being a Mom can seem to be a thankless job, being a stay-at-home mom is less than respected in today's society and being a Catholic Mom in the truest sense of the word, can be rougher than anything else I could imagine. Using the practical wisdom in this book helped me to see that even though I can't physically be on my knees in prayer, my heart can be bowed down & focused on Our Lord all day, everyday, keeping my focus on the true Heart of (Catholic) Motherhood."

Thank you very much for your review M. McCormack. I am sure that it will help other Catholic mothers in need of encouragement and inspiration. God bless you!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Wonderful St. Joseph!

O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in thee all my interests and desires. O thou Saint Joseph, do assist me by thy powerful intercession, and obtain for me from thy divine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that, having engaged here below thy heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of fathers. O Saint Joseph, I never weary contemplating thee, and Jesus asleep in thy arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near thy heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath. Saint Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for me. Amen!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

My interview with Zenit

Mother Teresa Shows Families How to Be Holy


Interview With Author Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle


By Genevieve Pollock


NEW YORK, MARCH 18, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Mother Teresa encouraged working with the poor not only in the slums of India, but primarily in our own families, says the author of a new book about the nun.

Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle is the author of the recently published "Mother Teresa and Me: Ten Years of Friendship."

She spoke with ZENIT about her experiences with Mother Teresa, now recognized as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, and the ways in which the nun taught the Missionaries of Charity, the congregation she founded, and others to love Christ in the poor.

Mother Teresa encouraged O'Boyle, a wife and mother, to live her vocation well and to help other families thrive. Over the years, the author has also written other books with this goal, including "The Heart of Motherhood: Finding Holiness in the Catholic Home," "The Domestic Church: Room By Room," and "Grace Cafe: Serving Up Recipes for Faithful Mothering."

As well, she is a host for Eternal Word Television Network, and will soon be premiering a new series, "Everyday Blessings for Catholic Moms."

O'Boyle has written for several newspapers and magazines, and maintains various personal blogs, including a new saints' Web site for youth.

In this interview with ZENIT, she spoke about the holiness of Mother Teresa, and the ways in which her teachings can be implemented in families today.

ZENIT: In one point in your book, you talk about Mother Teresa's unshakeable faith coupled with a feisty attitude; in another part you mention that she was called extraordinarily ordinary. Yet you also say that you have no doubt about Mother Teresa's eventual canonization. What makes you so certain? How does the normality of your relationship affect your belief that she is a saint?

O'Boyle: My relationship with Mother Teresa was certainly normal but I feel that it was extraordinary as well because I never had a doubt that I was visiting and corresponding with a living saint.

I saw great holiness in everything about Mother Teresa -- in her speech, her posture, her demeanor, the "glow' about her that radiated Christ's love, peace, and joy.

I knew that she truly lived the Gospel of Matthew: "Whatever you do to the least of these that are in my family, you do to me."

She lived her life, her every moment to satiate the thirst of Christ for souls... Continued here

Monday, March 15, 2010

My new saints' blog


The Stuff of Saints


“God knows just what each of us needs to become a saint. It’s when we decide to respond in love to all of the little details of life we are immersed in that we are heading in the right direction.” Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle

Take a look at my brand new saints' blog on the Goodness Reigns website for youth by clicking here.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Words to ponder on a Lenten Friday


Prayer Before a Crucifix
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus,
while before your face I humbly kneel; and with burning
soul I pray and beseech you to fix deep in my heart
lively sentiments of Faith, Hope and Charity, true
contrition for my sins and a firm purpose of amendment.
I contemplate with great love and tender pity your five
wounds, pondering upon them within me, calling to
mind the words which David your prophet said of
you my Jesus,

"They have pierced my hands and my feet; they have numbered all my bones."

Sunday, February 28, 2010

The Boston Catholic Women's Conference - an awesome event!

I returned home late last night from the Boston Catholic Women's Conference which was truly wonderful. It was a day filled with grace! I will give you some highlights later on, but now I'd like to tell you that it will be aired on Catholic TV at noon (Eastern Standard Time) today. You'll be able to see all of the speakers (myself included) and the beautiful Mass.

To find information to tune into Catholic TV from your computer or TV click here Just scroll over until you see the Boston Catholic Women's Conference and you'll also see my name which you can click on.

You can see my talk here..

Friday, February 26, 2010

Boston Catholic Women's Conference

I am leaving for Boston to give a talk tomorrow at the Boston Catholic Women's Conference. It's a snowy blustery day here so please pray for every one's travel and all to go according to God's holy will. Thank you for your prayers. Here's a short Youtube: here.

Thank you for your prayers! I'll post again when I am finished with the conference about my radio show coming up on Monday or Tuesday morning.


God bless!

Donna-Marie

Monday, February 15, 2010

As we prepare our families for the Lenten season...

Tomorrow is "Fat Tuesday" and the following day is Ash Wednesday, our Church's official beginning of Lent.

Kate Wicker has some advice for families for Lent in her post titled, "Lent for Little Ones." She said, "My oldest daughter is only five, so I don't expect her draw a long list of sacrifices. However, it's my firm belief that even the smallest children can begin their journey to the cross with Jesus during Lent. Here are a few ways I make this liturgical season come alive for my little ones (and I'd love to have others share how they approach Lent with their kids as well):

1. We give up sweets as a family except on Sundays and special saints' feast days. I know this is cliche, but it's an easy sacrifice for kids to understand. It's also a good way to detox from all the sweets we scarfed down back in December. Now I consider myself an understanding mother, so I allow my children to savor their last treat on Fat Tuesday. (Who am I kidding? I NEED the last hooray for myself.) So on Tuesday night we'll be eating ice cream for dinner. It's our feast before the fast, and Madeline looks forward to it every year (I score some serious cool points for serving ice cream for dinner).

Visit Kate here at her blog to see her whole post.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Interview with Kate Wicker about "Mother Teresa and Me"


"Today I'm honored to share an interview with Donna Marie Cooper O'Boyle (pictured left), a wife, mom, author, and speaker who is committed to encouraging others to seek holiness in the context of a happy Catholic family.

Donna Marie's most recent book, Mother Teresa and Me: Ten Years of Friendship, recounts the lessons learned from a ten-year relationship with the humble nun from Calcutta who is known for serving the poorest of the poor.

When I was in seventh grade, a close friend of mine led me to fell in love with the wisdom of Mother Teresa. Later in life I first felt an authentic call to motherhood while commuting on a train to work and reading A Simple Path. Coincidentally, I discovered after reading Donna Marie's book that Mother Teresa received her "call within a call" - her first inspiration to start the Missionaries of Charity - while sitting aboard a train as well.

While my devotion to Mother Teresa has been long-lived, the magnitude of her works and her life have often made her seem aloof and unreachable to me. What Donna Marie's book did for me was to make Mother Teresa real. The book includes snippets of personal correspondence with Mother Teresa as well as photographs of the saint-in-the-making with Donna Marie's children. While Donna Marie's book focused on this one pious woman, it serves as a reminder that the entire "great cloud of witnesses" in which we call saints are not impassable, holy people who are just "out there." They are people we can turn to in our struggles and in our joy for inspiration. They are people who have stumbled under the weight of their crosses just as we do. They are people who wrote letters and hugged children and asked for prayers on their behalf. They are true friends in Christ.

I took advantage of a recent weekend on the road and read Mother Teresa and Me in two days. As is true with all of her books, Donna Marie's words encourage, inspire, and reaffirm the value of traditional motherhood. (Go, Moms!) But what sets this book apart is that it takes an intimate look into the life of a small woman who made a big difference not only in the lives of the people she served but in the world.

Now from Donna Marie:

Donna Marie, I am so honored to have you over here at my little corner of cyberspace. Thanks for sharing your time and talents with us all. Now please tell us a little bit about your relationship with Mother Teresa.

I met Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta in Washington DC a little more than 22 years ago at the Missionaries of Charity convent. My spiritual director at the time, Father John A. Hardon S.J., invited my family down to see him at Georgetown University where he taught theology. We had a lovely visit and were then encouraged by Fr. Hardon to visit the patients at the “Gift of Peace” home at the Missionaries of Charity convent. We visited the terminally ill AIDS and cancer patients there and observed the loving care given to them by the nuns. The nuns invited us to come back the next day for Mass at their private chapel. We were told that Mother Teresa would be attending one of their Masses. I had no idea up until that point that she was even in the country!

What prompted you to write Mother Teresa and Me?..." Continued here at Momopoly.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Praying for the Other Half!


A mother's study group gathering together to share their faith while studying The Domestic Church: Room By Room has just shared this with me:

"During the study of Chapter 1 Part 2, I was led by the Holy Spirit to pray for the husbands of our group...then prompted to suggest a novena for our husbands to the group... then I turned the page...and there it was, the next chapter! "The Garage" ! Boy, the Lord knows, Mother Mary knows just when to send the graces! So, as we embark on the "Garage" chapter we have listed the husbands in our weekly e-mail and each of us will be praying not only for our own husbands but for each other's husband as well."

Isn't that wonderful that these women are praying for all of the husbands as they connect with each other to strengthen their own faith and learn more about Church teaching and how it applies to them as women, mothers, and wives?

The novena prayer that they are praying is this:

O glorious Saint Joseph, faithful follower of Jesus Christ, to you we raise our hearts and hands to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining from the benign heart of Jesus all the helps and graces necessary for our spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly for the grace of a happy death and the special favor we now request. (mention your request)

O guardian of the Word Incarnate, we feel animated with confidence that your prayers in our behalf will be graciously heard before the throne of God.

O glorious St. Joseph, through the love you bear to Jesus Christ and for the glory of His name, hear our prayers and obtain our petitions. Amen.

To see each day of the novena and find other great prayers to St. Joseph, click here.

I happen to be praying a novena to St. Joseph right now too, so I told them that I will include them in my novena. God is so good!

God bless and hugs!

Donna-Marie

Thursday, February 4, 2010

My review for the new Celebrate books by Heidi Bratton


Award-winning photographer and author Heidi Bratton has given families something to celebrate! Heidi’s Celebrate series (Circle Press, 2009), comprised of four board books for the very young is bright, cheery, and inspirational for the whole family.


These sturdy and practically indestructible books: Celebrate: Me & You, Celebrate: Feelings, Celebrate: Animals, and Celebrate: Family bring the Gospel to life and are just perfect for little hands. They can be tossed into the car, diaper bag, purse, or playpen to be picked up and enjoyed on scores of occasion.

The author has captured and highlighted some essential aspects of family life in her enchanting photos illustrating the simple and understandable text which is based on Genesis, 6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:14-27, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and Mark 10:13-16.

Your children, grandchildren, godchildren and friends will love these delightfully charming books while learning a number of timeless truths at the same time!

These books are available at Circle Press.org

Monday, February 1, 2010

Tomorrow, I'll be Al Kresta's guest chatting about my beloved friend Mother Teresa


I hope you can join Al Kresta and me tomorrow (Tuesday) at 5:30 PM to 6:00 PM Eastern time. We will be chatting LIVE on Ave Maria Radio aired through EWTN and all of its affiliates and through Sirius Radio. We will be chatting about my book: Mother Teresa and Me: Ten years of Friendship and of course, my friendship with Blessed Mother Teresa. I am honored to be Al's guest again. He has a great inspirational show every afternoon called "Kresta in the Afternoon" where he "talks about things that matter most." I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to Al's show and also being a guest on Al's show both in person LIVE at events I have attended around the country and over the phone LIVE as well.

The latest news on the "blogfront" is the new webcam on Al's blog. You can watch the webcam during our interview! You can join us by tuning into Kresta In The Afternoon.blogspot.com

See you tomorrow!

God bless and hugs,

Donna-Marie

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Atheists are protesting the upcoming Mother Teresa stamp


It's unbelievable! Well, actually, why am I surprised? An atheist group (small but loud) is complaining, actually they're protesting because Mother Teresa will be on a US stamp and the group is claiming that this violates regulations against honoring individuals whose achievements are associated with religion.

When I first heard about this earlier today, I said to my friend, "Well, that's ridiculous because Mother Teresa doesn't only represent a religion, she was a Nobel Peace Prize winner and a humanitarian!" When I read the article, I was happy to see that the fact that she was a humanitarian and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient were both mentioned in the article.

Here's the news article from Fox News...

An atheist organization is blasting the U.S. Postal Service for its plan to honor Mother Teresa with a commemorative stamp, saying it violates postal regulations against honoring "individuals whose principal achievements are associated with religious undertakings."

The Freedom from Religion Foundation is urging its supporters to boycott the stamp — and also to engage in a letter-writing campaign to spread the word about what it calls the "darker side" of Mother Teresa.

The stamp — set to be released on Aug. 26, which would have been Mother Teresa's 100th birthday — will recognize the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize winner for her humanitarian work, the Postal Service announced last month.

"Noted for her compassion toward the poor and suffering, Mother Teresa, a diminutive Roman Catholic nun and honorary U.S. citizen, served the sick and destitute of India and the world for nearly 50 years," the Postal Service said in a press release. "Her humility and compassion, as well as her respect for the innate worth and dignity of humankind, inspired people of all ages and backgrounds to work on behalf of the world’s poorest populations."

But Freedom from Religion Foundation spokeswoman Annie Laurie Gaylor says issuing the stamp runs against Postal Service regulations...
( Continued here at Fox News)

At the end of the article, it says, "The Foundation is encouraging its supporters to purchase the new stamp honoring the late actress Katharine Hepburn, who was an atheist, instead — or any of the other 2010 stamps, which include cartoonist Bill Mauldin, singer Kate Smith, filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, painter Winslow Homer and poet Julia de Burgos."

And I say, why don't we all buy up tons of Mother Teresa stamps when they are released August 26th, the anniversery of her birth (she would be 100) and use them abundantly! Let's bring back the art of letter writing. In fact, I am going to highly encourage everyone when it comes that time, to write a bunch of letters, getting in touch with loved ones and old friends and use that beautiful stamp to do so. :) What do you think?

Another idea is to buy a bunch of these beautiful stamps and then donate them to the Missionaries of Charity convents! The Sisters can sure use the stamps.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Pope Benedict's Second Book on Jesus of Nazareth is Complete

Vatican City, Jan 20, 2010 / 09:12 pm (CNA).- After meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in a private audience, American Rabbi Jacob Neusner, prolific writer, professor and expert in Judaism, told L'Osservatore Romano newspaper about his history with the Pope. He also mentioned that the Holy Father confided to him that the second volume of Jesus of Nazareth is complete.

The two met privately on Monday at the Vatican for 20 minutes, which the Rabbi Neusner called a "great gift" and said was "time enough for a nice meeting between two professors." During this encounter, the Pope chose to reveal to him that the second volume on Jesus is ready for the press.

The American rabbi was in Rome to take part in Catholic-Jewish dialogues following the Pope's visit to the Synagogue of Rome. He's no stranger to the environment, having dedicated his life to the scholarly study of Judaism, including how it interacts with Christianity and Islam... (Continued here).

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

You'll love this book!



I am a very honored contributor of The Handbook for Catholic Moms. You'll see a sidebar from me inside. Here's my endorsement for this wonderful book: Lisa Hendey is the sister friend of Catholic motherhood! We know her so well through her work for families, her website: Catholic Mom and her engaging podcasts. She now brings us her book: The Handbook for Catholic Moms; Nurturing Your Heart, Body Mind, & Soul in which Lisa openly discusses the essential elements of a Catholic Mom’s life in an exceptionally delightful, engaging, dynamic, and practical manner. You’ll be turning pages and feeling as if Lisa is there by your side lovingly offering her insight and warm encouragement. You’re going to love this book!

Watch for my review of this book coming up in the National Catholic Regiser.

Here's where you can purchase your copy:
Amazon - here.

The Catholic Company - here.

Barnes & Noble - here.

Aquinas and More - here.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Worrying about praying enough...

Next time you worry about fitting your prayers in during your overly-packed days with the kids, think about this notion which I wholeheartedly agree with, and well, it comes from a saint!

"Do not distress yourself about your prayers. It is not always necessary to employ words, even inwardly, it is enough to raise your heart and let it rest on our Lord, to look lovingly up toward this divine Lover of our souls for between lovers the eyes speak more eloquently than the tongue."

~ St. Francis De Sales

Of course, this doesn't mean you don't look for every opportunity for prayer because you can fit your Rosaries in on your fingertips when your hands are busy with the care of the household and family. But, there are plenty of times when your focus is critically needed for your family, and you can't formulate the words to speak to Our Lord; it is then when your loving looks to Him are enough - He knows!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Grace Cafe!


Here's a new review of Grace Cafe. Thank you very much, Amy, for your beautiful words.
Not A Microwave Meal


"Grace Cafe," by Donna-Marie Cooper Boyle is not a cookbook of microwave dinners, but one of 5 course meals. This lovely little gem, was full of wonderful quotes and thoughts that required thought and reflection. The chapters include topics such as a call to holiness, a vocation of love, self giving, and raising saints. It is adorably written with little recipe summary snippets at the end of each chapter. While the theme is quaint, don't let that fool you. Ms. Cooper Boyle writes with such spiritual depth that each page could be studied in and of itself. I wish I had time to read and just sit and ponder each line, each quote, each reference to the Catechism. What a labor of love this work must have been. I finished the book, enjoyed it, and learned more about my faith, but honestly it took me quite some time.

To see the full blog post, visit Amy here.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and beautiful feast day!

I am trying to catch up a bit here. I've been down with the flu and still trying to get over it. I've been posting little messages to Face Book when I can but haven't had time or energy to post on my blogs much.

I just heard the other day that I was noted as one of the top ten fascinating Catholics of 2009. Who me??? You can check that out here.

I will be speaking at the Boston Women's Conference in February. You can check that out here.

More news soon. God bless your first day of the New Year! Happy feast of our Blessed Mother!

Donna-Marie