St. Therese novena day 8

Eighth Day

Dear St. Thérèse, like you I have to die one day. I beseech you, obtain from God, by reminding Him of your own precious death, that I may have a holy death, strengthened by the Sacraments of the Church, entirely resigned to the most holy Will of God, and burning with love for Him. May my last words on earth be, "My God. I love You."

Intercede for us all the days of our life, but especially during this Novena and obtain for us from God the graces and favors we ask through your intercession. Amen.

Thought for the day: Death. It says in the catechism that death is nothing but the separation of the soul and body. Well, I have no fear of a separation which will unite me forever with the good God.
I am happy to die because I shall be able to help souls who are dear to me, far more than I can here below.
Life is not sad; it is very joyous. If you say, "This exile is sad," I understand you. We are wrong to give the name "life" to something which will end; it is only to the things of Heaven that we should apply this beautiful name.

Concluding Prayer

Little Flower Novena
Prayers to be said each day:
Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of divine love.
V. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray: O God, who have instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit; grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be ever truly wise and rejoice in His consolation, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Acts of Faith, Hope, and Love: O my God! I believe in Thee: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in Thee: do Thou secure them. I love Thee: teach me to love Thee daily more and more.

The Act of Contrition: O my God! I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance , and to amend my life. Amen.

Concluding Prayer Prayed Each Day:
O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.

St. Therese novena day 6

Sixth Day

St. Thérèse, Patroness of the Missions, be a great missionary throughout the world to the end of time. Remind our Master of His own words, "The harvest is great, but the laborers are few." Your zeal for souls was so great, obtain a like zeal for those now working for souls, and beg God to multiply their numbers, that the millions to whom Jesus is yet unknown may be brought to know, love and follow Him.

Intercede for us all the days of our life, but especially during this Novena and obtain for us from God the graces and favors we ask through your intercession. Amen.

Thought for the day: Zeal for souls. Let us work together for the salvation of souls. We have only the day of this life to save souls and to give them to the Lord as proofs of our love.
I tell Jesus that I am glad not to be able to see, with the eyes of my soul, this beautiful heaven which awaits me, in order that He may vouchsafe to open it forever to poor unbelievers.
I cannot perform brilliant works; I cannot preach the Gospel or shed my blood. But what matter? My brothers work in place of me, and I a little child, keep very close to the royal throne. I love for those who are carrying on the warfare.
My deeds, my little sufferings, can make God loved all over the world.

Little Flower Novena Prayers to be said each day: Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of divine love. V. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. R. And You shall renew the face of the earth. Let us pray: O God, who have instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit; grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be ever truly wise and rejoice in His consolation, through Christ our Lord. Amen. Acts of Faith, Hope, and Love: O my God! I believe in Thee: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in Thee: do Thou secure them. I love Thee: teach me to love Thee daily more and more. The Act of Contrition: O my God! I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance , and to amend my life. Amen. Concluding Prayer Prayed Each Day: O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.

So much laundry!

The subject of laundry has come up recently among many women so I will offer this post to two of my laundry prayers: http://viewdomesticchurch.blogspot.com/2009/06/laundry-more-laundry.html

God bless your day!

hugs,

Donna-Marie

How's your Advent season going?

How is your Advent season going? Have you tried to cut back on some activities to pause and pray and spend time with your family and loved ones? This holy time seems to speed by, doesn't it? We are already into the third week of Advent. which is hard to believe. What kinds of things are you doing with your family to make this season sprcial? Are you forming new traditions or reviving some old ones? Please feel to share in the comment section. I'll be doing some LIVE radio tomorrow and Monday (schedule here) about this season and about my new book just released: Mother Teresa and Me: Ten Years of Friendship, so please feel free to let me know what kinds of things you'd like to hear about.

Talk to you soon!
God bless you!

Donna-Marie

leaving for two events!

Dear Friends,

I will be leaving for Chicago tomorrow (Tuesday) morning to go to the RBTE, Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit to do a book signing of my newest book, Catholic Saints Prayer Book and then I will be going to Birmingham, Alabama later in the week to tape some episodes on EWTN. I'll let you know when they will be aired as soon as I know.

I most-likely will not be able to post messages for a few days. If it is possible, I will. I would appreciate prayers for safety if you would be so kind. Thank you in advance for the prayers! I will keep you all in mine.

God bless you!

Donna-Marie

Sorry that I can't blog!

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know that I am sorry but I won't be able to blog for a while. There is just too much pain and discomfort in my head and neck due to the car accident. If you can spare a few prayers for my daughter and me for a speedy recovery and safety for the upcoming trip, we will greatly appreciate it.

Thank you so very much!
God bless you all!

Prayers needed

Go over to "Daily Donna-Marie" to find a prayer request. Just click here. Thank you!

God bless,

One more day until "Turkey" day

Thanksgiving is tomorrow! We are busy with some preparations here at my house. I had a bad migraine all day yesterday and into today. I pray it lets up a little. In the meantime, I am blessed to have my two college kids back home to be with us for Thanksgiving! I'm looking forward to doing some baking a little later on. I have to pick up a "Tofurkey" for the ones here who don't eat turkey, as well as a few other forgotten items. I am so excited that we will all be sitting around the dinner table tomorrow, by God's grace, giving thanks! We'll also be celebrating some birthdays at my house.

As you prepare for a big holiday filled with food and football for some, be sure to take the time to just be and first and foremost, to be thankful.

Try not to get caught up with doing so much that you don't have a chance to enjoy. It's hard, I know, because there is always so much to do. It can even make us feel cranky if we're not careful! However, we can delegate some of the tasks to some of the kids or hubby. We can have everyone contribute to make it all come together. Who's going to help peel the potatoes? Who will mash? Who will set the table? Who will tend the fire in the fireplace? Who's in charge of dinner music? We can set these plans up in advance so we are not running around doing everything! Let's get others to help with the dishes, too. Many hands make light work, right?

Also, please be careful out there driving. You know how this is really the busiest time on the roads with people traveling to get home for Thanksgiving. My husband ran into many traffic jams on the highways yesterday going to pick up the kids from college. Please watch out for the partying people who may be drinking and driving. Let's pray for safety for everyone.

Make sure that you make the time to be with the family --not just at the dinner table -- but to play a game, to chat, to watch a movie, or go for a walk. Perhaps you may all offer a little reason to give thanks after saying your Grace before your meal. Do something together and make your memories. You don't want to be standing in the kitchen looking at the dirty dishes at the end of the day, lamenting that you never took the time to stop and pause to enjoy.

Thank you dear Lord for all of Your blessings and LOVE!

Please pray for Clare!

I'm asking you all to please pray for my neighbor, Clare. She is 86 years old and just took a very bad fall. My husband and I decided to go for a short walk down the road since we have both worked non stop today on this beautiful day and wanted to at least to stretch our legs for a few minutes before the sun went down. When we began to walk we saw the ambulance up the road in front of Clare's house. I ran up ahead to see if I could talk to her before she was put on the ambulance. I was able to be by her side and hold her hand and talk to her while she was attended to. She is severely traumatized physically and emotionally. She was being strapped to the board when I got there and I don't want to tell you how bad she looked. The poor thing. She is severely hurt.

I stroked her one arm carefully not to interfere with the three medics surrounding her and I touched her other hand with my other hand in which she gently wrapped her fingers around and held my hand as I talked to her. I told her that it was going to be okay and that I love her and I will be praying for her. I told her that God was with her and I blessed her forehead with the sign of the Cross as I asked God to take care of her. She was very thankful for the prayers. I have no idea if she is a praying woman and I have never before told her that I loved her. I don't know her well. I just wanted her to know that she is loved by someone and there is someone who is praying. It would be so wonderful if you could all please pray for Clare. She is a sweet woman and is right now in the Emergency Room.

She is very broken up and in critical condition. As she was put in the ambulance, I again told her that it was going to be okay and that I would be praying for her. Another neighbor of mine, Rene, who found her on the ground and was there at the scene is going to go over to the hospital to help if he can. Clare has no family around. Please say a prayer for her.

Thank you for "listening" and for caring.

God bless you!

Prayers for Minneapolis

Let's remember in prayer all those whose lives were touched by the tragic collapse of the bridge over I-35 in Minneapolis. See news story here. Visit Heidi over at Streams of Mercy for a prayer.

Update on Bryant who was in hiking accident

My son, Joseph visited Bryant yesterday at the hospital. Bryant is in a body brace and in fairly good spirits. Joseph said that Bryant was going to have surgery on his broken jaw yesterday evening. He was just out of the Intensive Care Unit which is good news and means that his brain contusions are manageable now at this point. He has a long road ahead of him and prayers are very much appreciated. Thank you.

Please pray for my children...

Please pray for two of my children who are flying today to the "other side of the world!" It will be the first time that we are so far apart. If you have a minute, would you please say a prayer for their safety? Thank you so much!

God bless!