tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22164620560013911102024-03-21T15:17:01.955-05:00Living With Lady PhilosophyConfessions of a Catholic Mom and Philosopher's WifeSusanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.comBlogger570125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-64062837685768863252019-05-20T16:40:00.000-05:002019-05-20T16:40:00.713-05:00Big Announcement!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.susannaspencer.com/"><img border="0" data-original-height="655" data-original-width="1318" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjve_FqPbV0wjubp-NswdOQhZnuVih8xLOi8wWQ677lnQOtsLrmamJUQRBG0Oa8DOpeedlmbtwlly93tD3_2-0tUUWKIHavMsdBJwm6-QgOa8Hc9KJQeGyt_ED9H-QHb0z5gmmFCd3qxZUW/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-05-20+at+4.39.06+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
I have a big announcement to make! <a href="http://www.susannaspencer.com/">I have a new website!</a> From now on all new posts will be over there! Don't forget to sign up for the RSS feed emails on the new site!<br /><br />I have an exciting blog series to kick it off. <br /><br />Last May-June my family took a three week camping trip Out West. We traveled for 23 days, camped 11 nights, visited 10 National Parks, and saw 11 of the Franciscan California Missions. I kept a handwritten daily journal of our trip.<br /><br />Since Lyme disease thwarted my plan to write about our family camping trip last summer, I will be posting my journal entries from the trip on the anniversary of each day of the trip. And include some family camping tips along the way.<br /><br />Today is day one!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.susannaspencer.com/?p=787">Click on over to read! </a><br />Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-49898842347804623552019-05-01T16:06:00.001-05:002019-05-01T16:06:11.445-05:00I Co-Wrote a Book! /Rise Up--A devotional on virtue for kids!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blessedisshe.net/product/rise-up-virtues-devotional-for-kids/?wpam_id=10"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie8_6JJZU9m5edx7cbBSwUsZP0PFUgVMnYx3u9vtK0EUmiHs_yRq3RbyrZ1KMS4dCk9YeaxH-MPLVbiU6Bp2CeifTKB6B-kuL88iCmmymo8CTrzTp97iCuw1R724dLMsPNAgdcw3lY_TQw/s320/IMG-4899.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">Over a year ago my eldest daughter mentioned to me that she was interested in having a new prayer book for devotional reading. This lead to my idea of collaborating with Blessed is She to create a beautiful prayer book for children rich in the Catholic tradition of becoming holy through growth in virtue. Further, I wanted to have a book for my children that taught them how to pray by learning to place themselves in God's presence, make an an examination of their daily lives, and then received inspiration from the Holy Spirit. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;">After a lot of writing and editing and waiting, this book has finally come together. I am pleased to introduce <i><a href="https://blessedisshe.net/product/rise-up-virtues-devotional-for-kids/?wpam_id=10">Rise Up:Shining With Virtue</a>.</i> It has 15 chapters broken down in seven days--with Scripture or a saint quote and a reflection for every day. Each chapter is written by a different Blessed is She writer and covers a different virtue.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">My role in </span><i style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><a href="https://blessedisshe.net/product/rise-up-virtues-devotional-for-kids/?wpam_id=10">Rise Up</a></i><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"> was to choose the virtues and then explain them to the reader. The book begins with my introduction, which explains what virtue is and how to grow in virtue in general. Each chapter focuses on an individual virtue. I based the introduction for each chapter on St. Thomas Aquinas' explanation of the virtue in his </span><i style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">Summa Theologiae</i><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"> taking the language down to the level of a child. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">It starts with the three Theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. These are followed by the four main Cardinal virtues prudence, justice, courage/fortitude, and temperance. The other virtues are parts or subvirtues of the Cardinal virtues: gratitude, generosity, obedience, perseverance, patience, humility, studiousness, and honesty. The book is written in such a way that children can unpack and apply growing in virtue to their daily lives, but also decode the more abstract ones that are more difficult to understand.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">Then comes my favorite part in each chapter: a passage from one of the Gospels which demonstrates this virtue and a reflection on that Scripture leading the reader into imaginative prayer. Fifteen different Blessed is She writers wrote the five middle days of the week for each chapter based on a short Scripture selection or Saint quotation. On the final day of the week, the reader is encouraged to <span style="font-family: inherit;">reflect, pray, and make resolutions on how to live this virtue out. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We were super excited to </span>get an Imprimatur for this book. The <span class="m_5508704164222107359gmail-il">Imprimatur</span> and Nihil Obstat means that a Church official has read over the book at the bishop's request and has declared</span><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"> that nothing in the book contradicts or is opposed to the defined body of Church doctrine or goes against the moral law. As a parent, I look for this on Catholic books for my children. It helps me to know they are reading the truth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is so, so beautiful. If you have a kid in your life ready to grow in holiness or who has just received a Sacrament and needs a great gift. <a href="https://blessedisshe.net/product/rise-up-virtues-devotional-for-kids/?wpam_id=10">Check out this book</a>. I can't wait for my kids to pray with it. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">*This post contains affiliate links. </span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_JyF_r5xrLYH6qRl8exuiIG62wR_6z6-A183C_uEhoeCCVVXozSHDqgosfdiPxSPecGLGEVb8GfiZ_95KWRRk8zkfgLCDoSYmE53yJoM088gcQB1CWCti3IlmOpO9jGCoIu4vIcJ_4tUH/s1600/4AD5058A-5922-4F47-AD68-347C26B7757D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_JyF_r5xrLYH6qRl8exuiIG62wR_6z6-A183C_uEhoeCCVVXozSHDqgosfdiPxSPecGLGEVb8GfiZ_95KWRRk8zkfgLCDoSYmE53yJoM088gcQB1CWCti3IlmOpO9jGCoIu4vIcJ_4tUH/s320/4AD5058A-5922-4F47-AD68-347C26B7757D.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><br /></span></span>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-45403026225371908422019-01-03T15:26:00.001-06:002019-01-03T15:26:39.976-06:00NCRegister: Christmas Joy is for the SufferingHave you ever noticed how often joy is paired with suffering in the
Scriptures? Abraham and Sarah long for a child into their old age before
they are given the joy of a son. The Israelites only experience the joy
of being freed from slavery, after having suffered for many years at
the hands of the Egyptians. Job loses all his worldly goods, his
children, his health, only to have it all restored back to him. Further,
in the letters of St. Paul, we hear again and again the urge to rejoice
in our sufferings: “Even if I am to be poured as a libation upon the
sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.
Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.” (Philippians
2:17-18)<br />
<br />
We should not be surprised, then, that when God became man, the
Christmas joy of the shepherds comes after years of waiting for a Savior
while suffering at the hands of oppressive governments. Or that the
very reason for our joy at God become man can only be realized after
this God made Man suffers and dies for us on the Cross.<i>..</i><br />
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<i>Read the rest at the <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/blog/sspencer/christmas-joy-is-for-the-suffering">National Catholic Register...</a></i>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-25164155427908198162018-12-20T15:31:00.000-06:002019-01-03T15:32:23.101-06:00NCRegister: The Secular Christmas Season is Actually the Secular AdventIt was usually the last Sunday of Advent, and sometimes even
Christmas Eve, that my parents would put up the tree. The familiar
crackling sound of the antique record player and Andy Williams crooning <em>Sleigh Ride</em>
in the background always filled me with that warm Christmassy feeling.
My father was a liturgical musician, and the one thing he was strict
about was not listening to or singing Christmas music in the home or
even decorating until it was nearly Christmas.<br />
<br />
So, we embraced the Advent traditions of the Advent wreath and Jesse
Tree. My mother always put up an outdoor Advent wreath complete with
pink and purple bows, which got switched to red on Christmas Eve. Some
well-meaning neighbor would always stop by the first week of Advent and
let her know that three of her candles were burnt out.<br />
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<i>Read the rest at the<a href="http://www.ncregister.com/blog/sspencer/the-secular-christmas-season-is-actually-secular-advent"> National Catholic Register...</a></i>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-46025492988629048892018-11-23T15:37:00.000-06:002019-01-03T15:38:04.459-06:00NCRegister: The Xennial-Millennial Modern TraditionalistWhen I tried to fit myself into a few of the <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/magazine/the-time-of-the-tribes/" target="_blank">caricatures of the Catholic Tribes in American put together by Michael Warren Davis and Damian Thompson</a>
I somehow fell flat in the middle of nowhere. However, I know that
there are American Catholics that think like I do since I know many of
them personally, and perhaps, if I put this out there, I will find more
of them.<br />
<br />
A few years ago I wrote about a group of people that I called <a href="https://churchpop.com/2015/03/06/12-signs-you-might-be-a-hipster-traditionalist/" target="_blank">“Hipster Traditionalists”</a>—people
who love the Traditional Latin Mass, also known as the Extraordinary
Form of the Roman Rite, but don’t quite fit in with other
traditionalists. These days I think that the title Modern Traditionalist
is a better fit.<br />
<br />
A Modern Traditionalist is a lover of all things traditional, not out
of a nostalgia for things pre-1965, but out of a real love of the
beauty preserved in it. For them it is not just a preference, but the
realization that the older liturgy is more beautiful and profound...<br />
<i><br />Read the rest at the <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/blog/sspencer/the-xennial-millennial-modern-traditionalist">National Catholic Register...</a></i>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-84288264402608484992018-11-19T15:40:00.000-06:002019-01-03T15:40:54.493-06:00NCRegister: Is Your Family Vocation Active or Contempletive?<em>“Bless our families, bless our children. Choose from our homes those needed for your work.”</em><br />
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I knelt with my family at the Vigil of All Saints and prayed the <a href="http://rediscover.archspm.org/prayer-2/archdiocesan-prayer-for-vocations/" target="_blank">Archdiocesan Prayer for Vocations</a>
of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul. We pray this prayer at
every Mass at my parish, but that evening as my son was dressed as a
priest-saint and my daughters dressed as saints who were religious
sisters in preparation for the All Saints party, I hoped that God would
choose all those from my home to do his work.<br />
<br />
Perhaps it is a bold request and hope to desire my family to be like
that of Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of
Lisieux, who dreamt of and gave all of their children into religious
life. Yet, I only think of it because I have felt that these saints are
kindred spirits to my family, especially in the importance they placed
on a prayerful, God centered family life that was separate from the
influences of secular society. I also feel bold in hoping for it because
of the sacramental graces of marriage, which can transform all of our
human efforts into something better...<br />
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<i>Read the rest at the <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/blog/sspencer/is-your-family-vocation-active-or-contemplative">National Catholic Register...</a></i>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-29209942357607371932018-10-30T15:44:00.000-05:002019-01-03T15:44:27.331-06:00NCRegister: When Jesus Brought My Miscarried Babies Back to MeOctober is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month, and
Oct. 15 is the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. This year I
was painfully aware of the day as friends posted their remembrances on
social media. I kept thinking about how a year ago I was pregnant with
our baby who passed out of me in early November. I could not muster the
emotional strength to face the day publicly, so I held onto my three
miscarried babies in my heart. I thought I had made it through my
grieving, but perhaps not.<br />
<br />
When I went on a silent four day Ignatian retreat last weekend, I did
not plan on praying about my miscarriages. In fact, during the four
days of the retreat, I barely thought of them. I went through the
Ignatian exercises facing other spiritual things. I got to the point
where I though I had gotten all I needed on this retreat (i.e., cried
all of my tears), and I would just rest peacefully with God.<br />
<br />
But on Sunday morning, the retreat director encouraged us to allow
God to give us the extra graces he still had to offer us. In fact, the
last short day of the retreat was often when one received more graces. I
took his advice to heart and decided to be open to the movements of the
Holy Spirit...<br />
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<i>Read the rest at the <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/blog/sspencer/when-jesus-brought-my-miscarried-babies-back-to-me">National Catholic Register...</a> </i>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-42648276497615539942018-10-25T15:06:00.000-05:002018-10-29T15:07:11.301-05:00NCRegister:A Priest is Just a Man, Imprinted with a Sacramental CharacterI picked <em>The Devil’s Advocate</em> by Morris West off the shelf of <a href="https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2018/07/why-we-need-loome-theological-booksellers" target="_blank">Loome Theological Booksellers</a>
in Stillwater, Minnesota, flipping it over to look at the back. I was
immediately intrigued by the fact that West was an Australian Catholic
author. It took me another year to read the book, but I found that it
was providential for me to have read during this time of scandal in the
Church. It was helpful to read an account representing the state of the
Church between World War II and pre-Vatican II where the hierarchy was
detached from the day to day harsh realities of the People of God and
priests had the same failings as other men. In fact it was quite
familiar.<br />
<br />
Morris West wrote the novel<em> The Devil’s Advocate</em> a couple of
years after he spent time with a priest in the 1950s helping poor
children in Sicily. He witnessed the state of the people there, and set
his book in a similar setting among the poor, superstitious Italians in
the hill country. He also was a witness to the politics of the Vatican
under Pope Pius XII, and his novel provides for us the contrast between
the bishops and cardinals striving for political power and the
ill-educated clergy of the countryside. The stark, cool halls of the
officials in the Vatican seem to have nothing in common with the barren,
hot hills of the peasants, but somehow it is all the same Church.<br />
<br />
It makes one think of St. Paul talking about the various parts of the
Body of Christ, but it seems that in the Church the Head has lost touch
with the Heart, and many of the seemingly insignificant parts are
inflamed and infected.<br />
<br />
Read the rest at the <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/blog/sspencer/a-priest-is-just-a-man-imprinted-with-an-indelible-sacramental-character"><i>National Catholic Register... </i></a>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-82040481181435404862018-09-30T15:04:00.000-05:002018-10-29T15:05:03.967-05:00NCRegister:6 Prayers to Help Unite Your Suffering to Jesus ChristAfter dealing with several chronic local infections this past summer,
I was bit by a tick in late July and contracted Lyme disease. The Lyme
targeted my right ankle and knee, making it impossible for me to walk
without crutches and without extreme pain for nearly two weeks. The pain
persisted even when I was lying down, and I insisted to my husband that
this was more extreme pain than my four natural childbirths. It was the
kind of pain where you would rather have the diseased limb cut off than
wait for it to heal. I do not think I would have been able to bear the
pain mentally, emotionally, or physically had I not taken my illnesses
to prayer and offer them as sufferings united to Christ’s one sacrifice.<br />
<br />
The initial shorter-term severe pains and the constant minor pains
that have lingered on over many weeks have given me much opportunity to
embrace redemptive suffering. I have heard much about “offering up” my
sufferings throughout my life as a cradle Catholic, but it is something I
did not really understand until I was given an opportunity to practice
it.<br />
<br />
This idea of our suffering being raised to the level of the
Redemption is such a beautiful part of our Church’s tradition. I am
focusing on physical suffering here, but it rings so true for other
sufferings as well. There are several prayers and Scripture passages
that I have found helpful to meditate with and rest in throughout my
time of illness.<br /><br />Read the rest at the<a href="http://www.ncregister.com/blog/sspencer/6-prayers-to-help-unite-your-suffering-to-jesus-christ#article-view-comments"><i> National Catholic Register...</i></a>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-76403025930336139752018-09-18T15:00:00.000-05:002018-10-29T15:01:25.989-05:00NCRegister: There is Always Something More to Give UpI sat on a blanket beside my friend on a warm summer morning as we
watched our children participate in a soccer camp. We were reflecting on
motherhood and how it had changed us over the long, but short, years
that we had been mothers. My tenure as a mother is just shy of a decade,
so really, not that long.<br />
<br />
I explained to her how I had been reading the <em>Institutes</em> of
St. John Cassian as part of my research for a (very, very) long term
project, and that I have found his instructions to monks about growth in
virtue very applicable to my life as a laywoman. Not that I am called
to the austerity that the desert fathers lived, but that the austerity
that they are called to is parallel to that which a mother and wife is
called.<br />
<br />
I brought him up to my friend, because, Cassian, when talking about
covetousness made a point that rang so true to my experience of seeking
to grow in holiness in my vocation: “[T]here is no one who has not
something to give up.” (Book VI, Ch. 27)...<br /><br />Read the rest at the <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/blog/sspencer/there-is-always-something-more-to-give-up">National Catholic Register...</a><br /> Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-78242975988275995732018-09-07T16:03:00.000-05:002018-09-07T16:03:49.023-05:00Life These Days<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CTTnlDMVaTUfOumw1nO6lXC6JAwM87VpNh9RxRwAJoSBKeeKNkgQbhvaK3lW34asIl3ZnqLa_rmUcoFl49GIkBMmdEhmPvmc8Y4icKgI9suPPyipl4Na5Qhb-zSxtmS10vdnXbQhEVsb/s1600/IMG-2951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CTTnlDMVaTUfOumw1nO6lXC6JAwM87VpNh9RxRwAJoSBKeeKNkgQbhvaK3lW34asIl3ZnqLa_rmUcoFl49GIkBMmdEhmPvmc8Y4icKgI9suPPyipl4Na5Qhb-zSxtmS10vdnXbQhEVsb/s320/IMG-2951.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Somehow we have hit a rhythm that is working this semester. Maybe it is working for me because I get to sleep until my Lyme diseased body is ready to wake up, and the professor is doing the work of getting the children up for the day. But I think that perhaps he is okay with things as well, especially since we put our feet down earlier this year and made all the children ages 5 and up responsible for getting themselves ready and fed in the morning. <br />
<br />
I have been waking up around 8 am most days to the sound of my children laughing and playing outside my door. By the time I am dressed and out of my room, the school aged children are hard at work at the dining room table, and the professor is working beside them. His sabbatical has become a semester of studious contemplation for us all. Once I am able to manage the school and teach the subjects that need teaching (about half of their work is independent requiring very little one on one instruction), the professor disappears to do his work away from the chaos of four children.<br />
<br />
I guide the children through school until lunchtime at 12:30pm. We have fourth grader, second grader, kindergartner, and a three year old bundle of energy this year. Mostly the younger two entertain themselves with continual reminders to play somewhere else when they intrude upon school space. I do make time to work on math, reading, and handwriting with my kindergartner, and my preschooler is gleaning all sorts of things like counting, colors, playing blocks, building duplos, coloring, from his older sister.<br />
<br />
We have found our rhythm in the elementary school level as well. I am used to our curriculum for each subject now (though fourth grade singapore math is getting intimidating--I can't remember at what grade level I learned the order of operations...but we just covered it!), so teaching is going smoothly.<br />
<br />
Lunchtime has become super easy as well since we instituted the "make your own lunch" rule. To clarify, we have guidelines about this for them--they choose from a small variety of healthy options. The older children then move the dishwasher along after lunch while listening to a fairy story from the Andrew Lang Fairy Books (which we learned recently were actually compiled by his wife and some of her friends!).<br />
<br />
After lunch is nap time for the three year old and quiet time for the rest of us. The girls and I start of each quiet time with a short prayer time where I read the daily Mass readings to them and then we reflect quietly (or look through saint books or children's Bibles) for ten minutes. They go off to their quiet time spots for an hour and I settled into reading theology for about an hour (trying to get through St. Gregory the Great's <i>Morals on the Book of Job</i> before Christmas), and then whatever writing or editing work I need to do for that day.<br />
<br />
We have streamlined dinner meals to be shorter an easier these last few years, so I can usually get away with working until 4:30 or so before I cook dinner (which I have been able to do these past two weeks...this Lyme will be beaten!).<br />
<br />
At dinner we will often have a discussion topic. We cover one painting and one work of music a week. Lately, we have been reading through the Constitution and discussing it. About once a week we watch Ken Burn's National Park's documentary with dinner, and that sparks discussion as well--our kids are turning into environmentalists! Sometimes we will discuss a question from St. Thomas Aquinas' <i>Summa Theologiae.</i> Then the professor reads to us from the Bible--a chapter of the Old Testament and a chapter of the New Testament in order. We have been doing this for over three years and it is so great to hear it, and for the children to learn salvation history in a family setting.<br />
<br />
After dinner, I take my crazy amount of meds (had a morning dose as well), and help the professor clean the kitchen. <br />
<br />
We get the kids to bed in a leisurely way with family prayers, stories, and lots of "last drinks" and visits to the bathroom. The professor reads to the older kids from a chapter book. They just finished <i>Great Expectations</i> by Charles Dickens, and are reading <i>The Story of King Arthur and His Knights</i> by Howard Pyle. It is the second time through for King Arthur, but the younger kids do not remember it.<br />
<br />
Once everyone is in bed, the professor and I have been indulging in Star Trek: Enterprise. We were both into Star Trek in high school, gave it up in college, and tapped back into it our first years of marriage. This series is new to us, and has been a good way to enjoy the evening quiet while I have been sick. We usually have time for reading as well. I just finished <i>Vanity Fair</i> <span class="st">by William Makepeace Thackeray, and am now plowing through my second reading of <i>Framely Parsonage</i> by Anthony Trollope. <br /><br />So, despite the annoyance of being sick since we got back from our wonderful trip Out West, I am finding a peaceful enjoyment in the studiousness of our life these days. I think it is good for the kids and for us to spend our days in study, even if my two afternoon hours does not seem like that much, it does wonders for me. This is the home school life I dreamed of, and I wish the professor's sabbatical would last forever...and maybe we could avoid all the extra curricular activities that have not yet started...</span>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-88725593324464187082018-08-20T13:55:00.001-05:002018-08-20T13:55:21.036-05:00#SackClothandAshes: Acts of Reparation in the Face of Scandal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When<a href="http://www.catholicallyear.com/2018/08/sexual-abuse-sackcloth-and-ashes.html"> Kendra </a>and <a href="http://www.aknottedlife.com/2018/08/letter-writing-and-prayer.html">Bonnie</a> invited me to join their time of fasting and prayer, I had to say Yes. All of this suffering (and not being able to eat anything good because of my Lyme/Candida diet) can be for something good. I can unite my sufferings with Christ for the sake of healing in our suffering Church. And YOU CAN, TOO. <br /><br />Please consider joining in from August 22 on the Feast of the Queenship of Our Lady through the month of September. I think the images explain it all:<br />
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<br />Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-47943252159022148232018-08-15T11:46:00.000-05:002018-08-15T11:46:21.420-05:00NCRegister: Chastity, for Each and All, is Central to the Life of HolinessI know I am not alone in my sorrow over the reports of sexual
immorality among the clergy of the Church from the scandals of abusive
priests of the early 2000s to the more recent revelations of <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/sins-that-demand-justice" target="_blank">Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s notorious predatory behavior</a>, the <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/honduran-seminarians-allege-widespread-homosexual-misconduct" target="_blank">letter of the Honduran seminarians</a> about homosexual activity in their seminary, the <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pa-supreme-court-orders-release-of-redacted-grand-jury-report-20208" target="_blank">stifled report of priestly abuse in Pennsylvania</a>,
and so on. The actions of abuse of children and clergy using their
power to intimidate those below them into sinful actions and to covering
up immoral acts are sins that cry out to heaven for justice.<br />
The words of Jeremiah to the unfaithful Israelites in the readings recently ring true to us today:<br />
<blockquote>
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and
your doings, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in
these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of
the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ [...] ‘Behold, you trust in deceptive
words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear
falsely, burn incense to Ba'al, and go after other gods that you have
not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is
called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’ — only to go on doing
all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name,
become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it,
says the LORD. (Jeremiah 7: 3-4, 8-11)<br />
</blockquote>
Clergy and lay people in the Church have covered up these sins for
too long. One of the many things that need to be improved is the
understanding of the virtue of chastity as central to a life of
holiness. I think it is not too much to expect that ordained clergy
actively seek holiness, and along with holiness comes the formation of
all the virtues. We are all called to live chastity; but it looks
different in different states in life. <br /><i><br />Read the rest at the <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/blog/sspencer/chastity-for-each-and-all-is-central-to-a-life-of-holiness">National Catholic Register...</a></i>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-80154819642733892282018-08-14T18:50:00.000-05:002018-08-14T18:50:29.987-05:00Always Carrying About in the Body the Dying of Jesus
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Two weeks ago I hobbled into my functional medicine
practitioner’s office on crutches to discuss my gut healing that we had been
working on. I left the office with a probable diagnosis of Lyme disease. The
symptoms started the Sunday eight days previous before I even noticed a bite—my
legs seized up at dinner several hours after walking slightly off a trail at
near the Mississippi River. In the week that followed I had neck stiffness, leg
swelling, headaches, blurred vision. It was not until midweek that I noticed
large raised bug bite on my ankle. It did not hurt at all, nor look funny, but
my ankle joint pain was getting worse. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I woke up in the middle of the night early Friday morning
with shooting leg pain, and spent a half an hour Googling symptoms. I could not
figure it out. By the next evening I could not walk around the house without
help. I decided to go into urgent care on Saturday—because clearly I was
injured. At urgent care I got an x-ray and a few blood draws, but their best
explanation was a sprain or bursitis, though I had not had an injuring event.
So, when I went to my appointment on Monday, it all came together.<br />
<br />
I had always been terrified of someone in our family getting Lyme—I knew it was
bad—and now we are living it. <br />
<br />
The first week of treatment had me just getting worse—as the bacteria started
to die off, they released toxins into my body, which increased my symptoms. I
could not even get up to go to the bathroom without extreme leg pain, which
then led to my legs throbbing for almost an hour after I made it back to the
bed or couch. But I had to drink fluids to promote healing, which would lead to
another painful hour of recovering from getting up. </div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The professor took care, still is taking care, of all my needs. He makes
me breakfast in bed, lunch on the couch, dinner on the couch. He helps me pick
out clothes. He helps me run the bath and shower since I do not have the
strength to stand in the shower. He brings me my medicines and fluids. He takes
care of all the kids needs. He preps the dinners and washes all the dishes. And
I can’t do a thing to help him, because I am too sick and too tired.<br />
<br />
A sweet friend arranged a meal delivery sign-up as soon as she heard of my
illness, and we have been supported by so many meals all accommodating my
extreme dietary restrictions. THANK YOU FRIENDS! You are the best!<br />
<br />
Last Friday, our pastor came over and I received three Sacraments: Holy
Eucharist, Penance, and the Anointing of the Sick. It was so beautiful to
experience a Sacrament specifically praying for my bodily health—my health so
that I can serve the Church again. As Father left, he said that he felt that my
whole motherhood was under attack because of the way I have been limited from
doing my normal tasks of motherhood for my children and for my family. Which is
true.<br />
<br />
But all along as I have not been able to walk and have been in pain, I have
been thinking about how an illness in one part of the body affects the whole
body. I have been praying for the whole Body of Christ throughout my suffering,
because our Catholic Church so needs it. <br /><br />But while we are afflicted in every way, we will not be destroyed, because Jesus rose. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />This summer since we got home has been a ridiculous one. I had a bad case of mastitis (which they thought was cancer for about 5 days), and then have been being treated for candida (an overgrowth of yeast) in my gut, and now this. But the Lord is giving me the great gift of uniting my suffering, my fatigue, my fears, with Him. <br /><br />I do not know how long I will be ill. Some people take years to recover from Lyme. For most, if it is caught early, the first four week round or so of antibiotics is enough. It would be nice if the professor could actually use his sabbatical to write his book, and if I could have the strength to home school the kids each day soon.<br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I am walking mostly pain free now--still limping, so still using a crutch. Today, while I was in less pain, I barely had energy to sit up and eat. Eating has been a trial--I struggle to get through each meal and feel triumphant and relieved when the last bite is in. Yet, I am steadily getting better.<br /><br />So, please pray for my complete recovery, and I will continue to offer this all for the Church, that healing will happen, the truth will be made clear, and that justice will be done.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span>
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</style>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-47544893739936052042018-07-23T14:58:00.000-05:002018-07-24T14:59:29.968-05:00NCRegister: St. John Cassian, Gluttony, and Internet Intemperance...While gluttony is certainly a temptation in my life, though my
vocation has not lead me to the austerity of the monastic life, this
monk’s account of his battle with gluttony rang very true to a different
form of intemperance in my life. The truth is, and I am certain I am
not alone, that I struggle daily to have self-control in my use of the
internet and social media.<br />
<br />
The more I have tried to limit my use of the internet, the more I
realize that this tool is a necessary part of the life I live. It is
central to much of my work, managing my children’s home school, cooking
meals, keeping up on basics like weather and news, staying in touch with
out of town relatives and friends, and my prayer life. Yet, I can never
seem to come to terms with it, especially since I got my first
smartphone a few months ago (and I still call myself a millennial)...<br />
<br />
<i>Read the rest at the</i> <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/blog/sspencer/st.-john-cassian-gluttony-and-internet-intemperance"><i>National Catholic Register...</i></a> Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-1417608272075080342018-07-16T14:53:00.000-05:002018-07-24T14:54:12.795-05:00NCRegister: How I Keep my Children Clothed and Build Up the Body of ChristAs in all callings, raising children is full of Sisyphean tasks, and
the acquiring, ordering, and cleaning of their clothes is probably the
most Sisyphean of them all. Thanks to Adam and Eve it is an unavoidable
task as well. Children need to be clothed (in public at least), and in
Minnesota where I live, for most of the year it is a necessity to keep
them warm. This aspect of a parent’s vocation is a topic that comes up
fairly often in my conversations with other parents. We discuss laundry
routines, trying to get a better handle on our own. Whether we realize
it or not, but doing this we are actually helping each other on the path
to sanctification—when Christian parents help each other do even the
smallest of necessary tasks we are building up the Body of Christ.<br />
<br />
Managing of the clothes of multiple little people (or even one) can
often be an overwhelming task. Recently, a good friend of mine shared
her exasperation over it on social media, and we commiserated over the
drudgery of it all.<br /><br /><i>Read the rest at the <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/blog/sspencer/how-i-keep-my-children-clothed-and-build-up-the-body-of-christ">National Catholic Register...</a></i>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-42844400702127078012018-07-13T14:50:00.000-05:002018-07-24T14:50:23.530-05:00NCRegister: Praying to Sts. Louis and Zelie Brough Grace into my MarriageWhen my husband was discerning his vocation during the semester we spent
abroad taking classes in Gaming, Austria and traveling around Europe he
prayed to St. Thérèse of Lisieux to be “offered red roses” if he was
meant to marry me. And one afternoon in Venice outside St. Mark’s
Basilica (my husband’s namesake) a flower vendor offered red roses. Mark
did not purchase them, nor did he give up his discernment immediately,
but I still credit the Little Flower’s intercession to him feeling what I
had felt all along—that we were meant to be married. Three years later
our dear St. Thérèse led us to her parents. <br /><br /><i>Read more at the <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/blog/sspencer/praying-to-sts.-louis-and-zelie-brought-grace-into-my-marriage">National Catholic Register...</a></i>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-52422307158542990782018-07-11T17:00:00.000-05:002018-07-11T17:00:08.220-05:00Day Nine, July 12: Novena to Saints Louis and Zélie Martin
<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoKWwNOD9XS2a-_mJo6R4wZabqUgxPXfjL_z5L8sYUBiml5azkPKCdxv0JCFAHsNa3jKwz4aAaEjohP_huPShP00rKQts0yinjEWJV-wA44CL2okTaDXxQHPX5Y21sd8lKVhprMhMNjtn/s1600/Notre_Dame_des-Victoires_10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoKWwNOD9XS2a-_mJo6R4wZabqUgxPXfjL_z5L8sYUBiml5azkPKCdxv0JCFAHsNa3jKwz4aAaEjohP_huPShP00rKQts0yinjEWJV-wA44CL2okTaDXxQHPX5Y21sd8lKVhprMhMNjtn/s400/Notre_Dame_des-Victoires_10.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36175935"><span class="mw-mmv-title">Statue above the East transept altar of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires in its eponymous </span></a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica" title="Basilica">Basilica</a>.<br />By KJK - Own work (Original text: self-made), Public Domain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Day Nine: The Virgin
Mary</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Behold, your mother!”
John 19:27</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I would like to say, humbly, to those who suffer and to
those who struggle and are tempted to turn their backs on life: turn towards Mary!
Within the smile of the Virgin lies mysteriously hidden the strength to fight
against sickness and for life. With her, equally, is found the grace to accept
without fear or bitterness to leave this world at the hour chosen by God.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“To
seek this smile, is first of all to have grasped the gratuitousness of love; it
is also to be able to elicit this smile through our efforts to live according
to the word of her Beloved Son, just as a child seeks to elicit its mother’s
smile by doing what pleases her. And we know what pleases Mary, thanks to the
words she spoke to the servants at Cana: ‘Do whatever he tells you.’”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Benedict XVI, Homily at
Lourdes, 15 September 2008</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“My dear brother, if you would agree to this one request I’m
asking of you, I’d be happier than if you sent me all of Paris. Here it is: you
live very close to Notre-Dame des Victoires. Well! Go there just once a day and
say a Hail Mary to the Blessed Mother. You’ll see that she’ll protect you in a
very special way.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Letter
of Zélie to her brother Isidore, CF 1</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I have nothing new to tell you. I expect my father will
tell you all that he knows. Remind him to light a candle for himself and for me
in Notre-Dame des Victoires. He promised me he would.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Letter
of Zélie to her brother Isidore, CF 9</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I had the happiness of receiving communion at Notre-Dame
des Victoires, which is like a little heaven on earth. I also lit a candle for
the intention of our entire family.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Letter
of Louis to Zélie, CF 2-a</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the end of this novena, let us place all our intentions
in the heart of the Virgin Mary. Louis and Zélie Martin drew strength and hope
from Notre-Dame des Victoires; she will obtain for us too the grace and peace
of God our Father.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Magnificat (Luke
1:46–56)</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From this day all generations will call me blessed:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
the Almighty has done great things for me,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and holy is his Name.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He has mercy on those who fear him</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in every generation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He has shown the strength of his arm,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and has lifted up the lowly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He has filled the hungry with good things,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and the rich he has sent away empty.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He has come to the help of his servant Israel</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
the promise he made to our fathers,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to Abraham and his children for ever.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Glory to the Father... </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><style>
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</style>Novena Prayer</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
O God, in Louis and Zélie Martin you have given us an
example of holiness lived in marriage. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Look kindly upon the families of our time, and strengthen
them with your love; </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let young people find in them the support they need to hear
your voice and respond to your call. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Support the sick and the elderly with your power. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Louis and Zélie loved to pray to Notre-Dame des Victoires; through
her intercession, we present to you our intention for this novena...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(period
of silence, or state the intention)</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Watch over us, and lead us at last into your kingdom of
love.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Notre-Dame des Victoires, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Holy Family of Nazareth, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
------</div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Sources</b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Novena translated by Elizabeth and Turner
Nevitt from: <i>Neuvaine par l’intercession
des bienheureux Louis and Zélie Martin</i>. Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires
(Paris). Éditions Salvator: Paris, 2010. Used with permission of Hervé Soubias,
rector of the Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires, Paris.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Louis and Zélie Martin. <i>A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family
Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863–1885</i>.
Ed. Frances Renda. Trans. Ann Conors Hess. New York: St Paul, 2010. Translation
of <i>Correspondance familiale (1863–1885)</i>,
Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2009.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“Benedict XVI.” <a href="https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html">https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html</a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The
Psalms: The Grail Translation</i>. 1963.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Holy Bible,
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</i>. 1966.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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</style>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-91311522941266349762018-07-10T17:00:00.000-05:002018-07-10T17:00:02.286-05:00Day Eight, July 11: Novena to Saints Louis and Zélie Martin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Day Eight:
Abandonment to Providence</b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“He who calls you is
faithful, and he will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We too must place our trust in God alone. It is tempting to
think that today’s advanced technology can answer all our needs and save us
from all the perils and dangers that beset us. But it is not so. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“At
every moment of our lives we depend entirely on God, in whom we live and move
and have our being. Only he can protect us from harm, only he can guide us
through the storms of life, only he can bring us to a safe haven.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Benedict
XVI, Apostolic Journey to Malta, 18 April 2010</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I was like you when I began my Alençon lace business, and I
made myself sick over it. Now, I’m much more reasonable. I worry much less and
resign myself to all the unfortunate events that happen to me, and may happen
to me. I tell myself that God allows it, and then I don’t think about it
anymore.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Letter
of Zélie to her brother Isidore, CF 26</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“The best thing to do is to put everything in the hands of
God and await the outcome in peace and abandonment to his will. That’s what I’m
going to try very hard to do.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Letter
of Zélie to her brother Isidore, CF 45</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Praying this novena with perseverance, let us confidently place
ourselves in the Lord’s hands, and ask for the grace to do his will in all
things.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8OLPGPqkafHwnvm7HDkNpazukWfmrtJjFaRrlo-YYfCPLg_Cr_KRGDqWSEivnDPXcjfiVlfhLktybfHC5TZyd7bFNXqEjhwlceyzC-BD4XurTxZ5DdZayFEWz6DN0DZEyaXDbXS7wl7vu/s1600/Ze%25CC%2581lie_Martin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8OLPGPqkafHwnvm7HDkNpazukWfmrtJjFaRrlo-YYfCPLg_Cr_KRGDqWSEivnDPXcjfiVlfhLktybfHC5TZyd7bFNXqEjhwlceyzC-BD4XurTxZ5DdZayFEWz6DN0DZEyaXDbXS7wl7vu/s320/Ze%25CC%2581lie_Martin.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psalm 143</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lord, listen to my prayer:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
turn your ear to my appeal.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You are faithful, you are just; give answer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do not call your servant to judgment</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
for no one is just in your sight.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The enemy pursues my soul;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
he has crushed my life to the ground;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
he has made me dwell in darkness</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
like the dead, long forgotten.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Therefore my spirit fails;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
my heart is numb within me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I remember the days that are past:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I ponder all your works.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I muse on what your hand has wrought</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and to you I stretch out my hands.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Like a parched land my soul thirsts for you.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFQ94tqn3RJoQvpG2qRxeNiO1SVb3v88LKKh_OQsK3FU3BxH5_P-HZIBwG8PBuSyUH4nJE98fm-FSpPqetc3QBzzovmj6PSKp-FzjWmvQOMhP2iMZP_MrmFceQOl3L1miaDJnOmzq4z4qA/s1600/Louis_Martin-edt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="370" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFQ94tqn3RJoQvpG2qRxeNiO1SVb3v88LKKh_OQsK3FU3BxH5_P-HZIBwG8PBuSyUH4nJE98fm-FSpPqetc3QBzzovmj6PSKp-FzjWmvQOMhP2iMZP_MrmFceQOl3L1miaDJnOmzq4z4qA/s320/Louis_Martin-edt.jpg" width="234" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lord, make haste and answer;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
for my spirit fails within me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do not hide your face</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
lest I become like those in the grave.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the morning let me know your love</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
for I put my trust in you.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Make me know the way I should walk:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to you I lift up my soul.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rescue me, Lord, from my enemies;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have fled to you for refuge.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Teach me to do your will</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
for you, O Lord, are my God.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let your good spirit guide me</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in ways that are level and smooth.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For your name’s sake, Lord, save my life;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in your justice save my soul from distress.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Glory to the Father...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Novena Prayer</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
O God, in Louis and Zélie Martin you have given us an
example of holiness lived in marriage. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Look kindly upon the families of our time, and strengthen
them with your love; </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let young people find in them the support they need to hear
your voice and respond to your call. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Support the sick and the elderly with your power. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Louis and Zélie loved to pray to Notre-Dame des Victoires; through
her intercession, we present to you our intention for this novena...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(period
of silence, or state the intention)</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Watch over us, and lead us at last into your kingdom of
love.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Notre-Dame des Victoires, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Holy Family of Nazareth, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us.<br />
_______ </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Sources</b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Novena translated by Elizabeth and Turner
Nevitt from: <i>Neuvaine par l’intercession
des bienheureux Louis and Zélie Martin</i>. Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires
(Paris). Éditions Salvator: Paris, 2010. Used with permission of Hervé Soubias,
rector of the Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires, Paris.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Louis and Zélie Martin. <i>A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family
Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863–1885</i>.
Ed. Frances Renda. Trans. Ann Conors Hess. New York: St Paul, 2010. Translation
of <i>Correspondance familiale (1863–1885)</i>,
Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2009.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“Benedict XVI.” <a href="https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html">https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html</a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The
Psalms: The Grail Translation</i>. 1963.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Holy Bible,
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</i>. 1966.</span></div>
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-->Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-30261248120466221452018-07-09T17:00:00.000-05:002018-07-09T17:00:09.193-05:00Day Seven, July 10: Novena to Saints Louis and Zélie Martin
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
</i></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHROq8Z0iwL3jmk9jGW7UGW1trFIfdZNCwAvFHHWH1VK1IlJAKqnWDo3ZLQ02G9E4l0oymHRasR19wbCQcQXeWGLMQr5kNZmtZSiqnX2rlT_M1RT8ISxhY0A5t0IUUGIlYKbAQE47SIt00/s1600/Cathedral+in+Lisieux+by+Katie+Boos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="604" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHROq8Z0iwL3jmk9jGW7UGW1trFIfdZNCwAvFHHWH1VK1IlJAKqnWDo3ZLQ02G9E4l0oymHRasR19wbCQcQXeWGLMQr5kNZmtZSiqnX2rlT_M1RT8ISxhY0A5t0IUUGIlYKbAQE47SIt00/s400/Cathedral+in+Lisieux+by+Katie+Boos.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cathedral in Lisieux. Photo by Katie Boos.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Day Seven: Enduring
Trials Together</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Walk in love, as
Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” Ephesians 5:2</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“[It is possible that a] crisis will become a passage of
growth and that love will emerge from it purified, matured and strengthened.
God alone can do this. He wants his disciples to serve as effective
collaborators, to approach couples, listen to them and help them rediscover the
hidden treasure of their marriage, the flame that has been buried under the
ashes. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It
is he who revives this flame and brings it back to life; certainly not in the
same way as falling in love, but in a different, more intense and profound
manner; but it is always the same flame.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Benedict
XVI, Address to the World Meeting of the Retrouvaille Movement, 26 September
2008</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After the death of little Hélène at the age of five, Zélie
wrote: “I didn’t expect such a sudden end, nor did my husband. When he came
home and saw his poor little daughter dead, he began to sob, crying, “My little
Hélène! My little Hélène!” Then together we offered her to God.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Letter
of Zélie to her brother Isidore, CF 52</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When her cancer was diagnosed, Zélie wrote to her
sister-in-law: “I couldn’t help myself from telling my family everything. I
regret it now because there was a grief-filled scene [...] My husband is
inconsolable. He’s given up the pleasure of fishing and put his lines up in the
attic, he doesn’t want to go to the Vital Circle anymore. It’s as if he’s
shattered.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Letter
of Zélie to her sister-in-law, CF 177</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We are not alone in the trials we endure: the Lord is with
us, as he was with Saints Louis and Zélie Martin. Like us, they knew all kinds
of difficulties, and their intercession opens a way of hope for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psalm 130</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lord, hear my voice!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
O let your ears be attentive</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to the voice of my pleading.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lord, who would survive?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But with you is found forgiveness:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
for this we revere you.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My soul is waiting for the Lord,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I count on his word.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My soul is longing for the Lord</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
more than watchman for daybreak.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let the watchman count on daybreak</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and Israel on the Lord.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Because with the Lord there is mercy</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and fullness of redemption,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Israel indeed he will redeem</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
from all its iniquity.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Glory to the Father...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Novena Prayer</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
O God, in Louis and Zélie Martin you have given us an
example of holiness lived in marriage. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Look kindly upon the families of our time, and strengthen
them with your love; </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let young people find in them the support they need to hear
your voice and respond to your call. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Support the sick and the elderly with your power. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Louis and Zélie loved to pray to Notre-Dame des Victoires; through
her intercession, we present to you our intention for this novena...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(period
of silence, or state the intention)</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Watch over us, and lead us at last into your kingdom of
love.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Notre-Dame des Victoires, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Holy Family of Nazareth, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
------ </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Sources</b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Novena translated by Elizabeth and Turner
Nevitt from: <i>Neuvaine par l’intercession
des bienheureux Louis and Zélie Martin</i>. Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires
(Paris). Éditions Salvator: Paris, 2010. Used with permission of Hervé Soubias,
rector of the Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires, Paris.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Louis and Zélie Martin. <i>A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family
Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863–1885</i>.
Ed. Frances Renda. Trans. Ann Conors Hess. New York: St Paul, 2010. Translation
of <i>Correspondance familiale (1863–1885)</i>,
Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2009.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“Benedict XVI.” <a href="https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html">https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html</a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The
Psalms: The Grail Translation</i>. 1963.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Holy Bible,
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</i>. 1966.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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</style>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-64832345183503850592018-07-08T17:00:00.000-05:002018-07-08T17:00:01.055-05:00Day Six, July 9: Novena to Saints Louis and Zélie Martin
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT7hw6Y-QN0MNcFZeLgv-sq24fmtxizjDuoI31Rwr9C_WOzOwkWjttaAbUH7IiGCTZ6PQhCGBtJTGPFkAVUkaxsRYGVFoRAfmOoWXVI50h4_UKtcJGbrmVVMDPBZ8RBxMbdHQWp284_Ljg/s1600/Martin+House+By+Kristi+Tyler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="572" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT7hw6Y-QN0MNcFZeLgv-sq24fmtxizjDuoI31Rwr9C_WOzOwkWjttaAbUH7IiGCTZ6PQhCGBtJTGPFkAVUkaxsRYGVFoRAfmOoWXVI50h4_UKtcJGbrmVVMDPBZ8RBxMbdHQWp284_Ljg/s400/Martin+House+By+Kristi+Tyler.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Les Buissonnets</i>, The Martin family house in Lisieux. Photo by Kristi Tyler. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Day Six: Marriage Through
the Test of Time</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“It was thy word, O
Lord, which heals all men.” Wisdom 16:12</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“This lack of wine [at the wedding at Cana] brings to mind
the moment in a couple’s life when love ends, joy runs out and the enthusiasm
of the marriage suddenly drains away. [... But Jesus transforms] the water into
wine. We know that this ‘good wine’ is a symbol of salvation, of the new
nuptial covenant that Jesus came to make with humanity. Yet every Christian
marriage, even the most wretched and insecure one, is a sacrament of precisely
this and therefore can find in humility the courage to ask the Lord for help.
When a husband and wife in difficulty or even already separated entrust
themselves to Mary and turn to the One who made ‘one flesh’ of two, they can be
certain that, with the Lord’s help, this crisis will become a passage of growth
and that love will emerge from it purified, matured and strengthened.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Benedict
XVI, Address to the World Meeting of the Retrouvaille Movement, 26 September
2008</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I wonder if my plan to go see you will ever be realized. I
encounter so many obstacles that I dream about them at night. For example, one
time I dreamed that I left, and I saw my husband make a long face, saying that
I was leaving him in a predicament. The next day, I told him about my dream,
and he said that I had dreamed the truth. He didn’t need to tell me; I know it
well. It’s true that it’s not easy for me to be away, above all because of my lace
business. And then, when it’s necessary to leave four children for two weeks, it’s
a little long. However, I really want to get away, but I don’t know how to do
it.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Letter
of Zélie to her brother Isidore, CF 19</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As we entrust our intention for this novena to Louis and
Zélie Martin, let us consider how they emerged victorious from the test of
time, and invoke their fidelity.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psalm 144</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Blessed be the Lord, my rock</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
who trains my arms for battle,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
who prepares my hands for war.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He is my love, my fortress;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
he is my stronghold, my savior,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
my shield, my place of refuge.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He brings peoples under my rule.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lord, what is man that you care for him,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
mortal man, that you keep him in mind;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
man, who is merely a breath,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
whose life fades like a shadow?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reach down from heaven and save me;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
draw me out from the mighty waters,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
from the hands of alien foes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let our sons then flourish like saplings</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
grown tall and strong from their youth:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
our daughters graceful as columns,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
adorned as though for a palace.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let our barns be filled to overflowing</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
with crops of every kind;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
our sheep increasing by thousands,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
myriads of sheep in our fields,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
our cattle heavy with young,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
no ruined wall, no exile,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
no sound of weeping in our streets.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Happy the people with such blessings;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
happy the people whose God is the Lord.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Glory to the Father...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Novena Prayer</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
O God, in Louis and Zélie Martin you have given us an
example of holiness lived in marriage. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Look kindly upon the families of our time, and strengthen
them with your love; </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let young people find in them the support they need to hear
your voice and respond to your call. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Support the sick and the elderly with your power. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Louis and Zélie loved to pray to Notre-Dame des Victoires; through
her intercession, we present to you our intention for this novena...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(period
of silence, or state the intention)</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Watch over us, and lead us at last into your kingdom of
love.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Notre-Dame des Victoires, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Holy Family of Nazareth, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">------- </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Sources</b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Novena translated by Elizabeth and Turner
Nevitt from: <i>Neuvaine par l’intercession
des bienheureux Louis and Zélie Martin</i>. Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires
(Paris). Éditions Salvator: Paris, 2010. Used with permission of Hervé Soubias,
rector of the Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires, Paris.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Louis and Zélie Martin. <i>A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family
Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863–1885</i>.
Ed. Frances Renda. Trans. Ann Conors Hess. New York: St Paul, 2010. Translation
of <i>Correspondance familiale (1863–1885)</i>,
Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2009.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“Benedict XVI.” <a href="https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html">https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html</a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The
Psalms: The Grail Translation</i>. 1963.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Holy Bible,
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</i>. 1966.</span></div>
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</style>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-81638886753531938722018-07-07T17:00:00.000-05:002018-07-07T17:00:00.857-05:00Day Five, July 8: Novena to Saints Louis and Zélie Martin
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
</i></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDaNUX7OToz0jVWvlEfflmo1lT-oz2kXbURatpY32KTXlwAFgILCGYm1q9M5yeaEvtMK6743etinS4-58Jsy2thdz55H_Y_SdcWAj11xefOU1E64cibi1zXKsBJjEHWLRJ_LdmPRw1ld2q/s1600/Statue+of+Bl.+Louis+and+St.+Therese+by+Katie+Boos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="604" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDaNUX7OToz0jVWvlEfflmo1lT-oz2kXbURatpY32KTXlwAFgILCGYm1q9M5yeaEvtMK6743etinS4-58Jsy2thdz55H_Y_SdcWAj11xefOU1E64cibi1zXKsBJjEHWLRJ_LdmPRw1ld2q/s400/Statue+of+Bl.+Louis+and+St.+Therese+by+Katie+Boos.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Statue of St. Louis and St. Therese. Photo by Katie Boos.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Day Five: Work and
the Duties of One’s State in Life</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Whatever you do, in
word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord.” Colossians 3:17</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“From the example of St. Joseph we all receive a strong
invitation to carry out with fidelity, simplicity and modesty the task
that Providence has entrusted to us. I think especially of fathers and
mothers of families, and I pray that they will always be able to appreciate the
beauty of a simple and industrious life, cultivating the conjugal relationship
with care and fulfilling with enthusiasm the great and difficult educational mission.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“May
he help every Christian to fulfill God’s will with confidence and love, thereby
cooperating in the fulfillment of the work of salvation.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Benedict
XVI, Angelus, 19 March 2006</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I have many problems that other women in my situation don’t
have. It’s this awful Alençon lace that makes life difficult. When I have too
many orders, I’m a slave to the worst kind of slavery. When it’s not going well
and I find myself liable for 20,000 francs out of my own account, and I have to
send to other firms the workers who were so hard to find, this gives me reason
to worry, as well as nightmares! Oh well, what can I do? I must accept it and
come to terms with it as bravely as possible.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Letter
of Zélie to her brother Isidore, CF 15</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Needless to say, your letter made me very happy, except I
see that you’ve tired yourself out far too much. So I strongly recommend calm
and moderation, above all in your work. I have some orders from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Compagnie Lyonnaise</i>; once again, don’t
worry so much. We’ll manage, with God’s help, to build a good little company.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Letter
of Louis to Zélie, CF 2-a</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Louis and Zélie Martin both worked hard to provide for the
education of their children. In asking for their intercession, let us offer the
Lord the duties of our state in life, and increase our prayers for those who
lack work.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psalm 127</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If the Lord does not build the house,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in vain do its builders labor;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
if the Lord does not watch over the city,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in vain does the watchman keep vigil.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In vain is your earlier rising,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
your going later to rest,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
you who toil for the bread you eat:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
when he pours out gifts on his beloved while they slumber.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Truly sons are a gift from the Lord,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
a blessing, the fruit of the womb.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indeed the sons of youth</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
O the happiness of the man</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
who has filled his quiver with these arrows!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He will have no cause for shame</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
when he disputes with his foes in the gateways.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Glory to the Father...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Novena Prayer</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
O God, in Louis and Zélie Martin you have given us an
example of holiness lived in marriage. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Look kindly upon the families of our time, and strengthen
them with your love; </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let young people find in them the support they need to hear
your voice and respond to your call. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Support the sick and the elderly with your power. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Louis and Zélie loved to pray to Notre-Dame des Victoires; through
her intercession, we present to you our intention for this novena...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(period
of silence, or state the intention)</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Watch over us, and lead us at last into your kingdom of
love.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Notre-Dame des Victoires, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Holy Family of Nazareth, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
------</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Sources</b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Novena translated by Elizabeth and Turner
Nevitt from: <i>Neuvaine par l’intercession
des bienheureux Louis and Zélie Martin</i>. Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires
(Paris). Éditions Salvator: Paris, 2010. Used with permission of Hervé Soubias,
rector of the Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires, Paris.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Louis and Zélie Martin. <i>A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family
Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863–1885</i>.
Ed. Frances Renda. Trans. Ann Conors Hess. New York: St Paul, 2010. Translation
of <i>Correspondance familiale (1863–1885)</i>,
Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2009.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“Benedict XVI.” <a href="https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html">https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html</a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The
Psalms: The Grail Translation</i>. 1963.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Holy Bible,
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</i>. 1966.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<style>
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</style>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-71982358140201010312018-07-06T17:00:00.000-05:002018-07-06T17:00:11.935-05:00Day Four, July 7: Novena to Saints Louis and Zélie Martin
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
</b></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtwx7lljsH5xhRs3NQnhOlnsGsfEZTSwpKaOPmsdX-zqNw-p0A3sKQWzoY-GPP7VOHM4Q1OgoamoVK0rebt-jJe9YxJSPRtOW6UpUnYTErzi9SIMYkea_xZKGexKGw_OTNuzfn3KQ2oZLh/s1600/Maison_natale_de_Sainte_The%25CC%2581re%25CC%2580se%252C_maison_de_Louis_et_Ze%25CC%2581lie_Martin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtwx7lljsH5xhRs3NQnhOlnsGsfEZTSwpKaOPmsdX-zqNw-p0A3sKQWzoY-GPP7VOHM4Q1OgoamoVK0rebt-jJe9YxJSPRtOW6UpUnYTErzi9SIMYkea_xZKGexKGw_OTNuzfn3KQ2oZLh/s400/Maison_natale_de_Sainte_The%25CC%2581re%25CC%2580se%252C_maison_de_Louis_et_Ze%25CC%2581lie_Martin.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rue Saint-Blaise's house at Alençon : The family home and <br />Thérèse’s birthplace. Photo by <br />
<div class="mw-mmv-credit">
<span class="mw-mmv-author"><a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se_of_Lisieux#mediaviewer/File:Maison_natale_de_Sainte_Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se,_maison_de_Louis_et_Z%C3%A9lie_Martin.jpg" title="User:Pierre-Yves Emile (page does not exist)">Pierre-Yves Emile</a></span> </div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Day Four: In
Difficulties with Children</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“We are God’s fellow
workers.” 1 Corinthians 3:9</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Speaking on education, Pope Benedict XVI encourages parents
and teachers thus: “Continue, therefore, without letting yourselves be discouraged
by the difficulties you encounter. The educational relationship is delicate by
nature: in fact, it calls into question the freedom of the other who, however
gently, is always led to make a decision.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Benedict XVI, Address to the
participants in the Ecclesial Diocesan Convention of Rome, 6 June 2005</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I know you’ve learned from her aunt in Le Mans of my poor
Léonie’s departure from the boarding school. As you can imagine, this upsets me
greatly. That doesn’t say it enough. This has caused me profound sorrow, which
still continues. [...] I believe that only a miracle could change her nature.
It’s true, I don’t deserve a miracle, and yet I hope against all hope.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“The
more I see her being difficult, the more I convince myself that God will not
permit her to remain that way.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Letter
of Zélie to her sister-in-law, CF 117</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Louis and Zélie Martin teach us always to press on without getting
discouraged, whether in our prayer, in the task of education if we are parents,
or in our relationships with our neighbors. This is how we too can become “God’s
fellow workers.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psalm 46</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
God is for us a refuge and strength,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
a helper close at hand, in time of distress:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
so we shall not fear though the earth should rock, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
though the mountains fall into the depths of the sea,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
even though its waters rage and foam,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
even though the mountains be shaken by its waves.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Lord of hosts is with us:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The waters of a river give joy to God’s city,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
the holy place where the Most High dwells.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
God is within, it cannot be shaken;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
God will help it at the dawning of the day.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nations are in tumult, kingdoms are shaken:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
he lifts his voice, the earth shrinks away.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Lord of hosts is with us:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Come, consider the works of the Lord,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
the redoubtable deeds he has done on the earth.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He puts an end to wars over all the earth;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
the bow he breaks, the spear he snaps.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He burns the shields with fire.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Be still and know that I am God,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
supreme among the nations, supreme on the earth!”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Lord of hosts is with us:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Glory to the Father...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Novena Prayer</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
O God, in Louis and Zélie Martin you have given us an
example of holiness lived in marriage. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Look kindly upon the families of our time, and strengthen
them with your love; </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let young people find in them the support they need to hear
your voice and respond to your call. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Support the sick and the elderly with your power. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Louis and Zélie loved to pray to Notre-Dame des Victoires; through
her intercession, we present to you our intention for this novena...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(period
of silence, or state the intention)</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Watch over us, and lead us at last into your kingdom of
love.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Notre-Dame des Victoires, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Holy Family of Nazareth, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Sources</b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Novena translated by Elizabeth and Turner
Nevitt from: <i>Neuvaine par l’intercession
des bienheureux Louis and Zélie Martin</i>. Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires
(Paris). Éditions Salvator: Paris, 2010. Used with permission of Hervé Soubias,
rector of the Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires, Paris.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Louis and Zélie Martin. <i>A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family
Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863–1885</i>.
Ed. Frances Renda. Trans. Ann Conors Hess. New York: St Paul, 2010. Translation
of <i>Correspondance familiale (1863–1885)</i>,
Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2009.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“Benedict XVI.” <a href="https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html">https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html</a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The
Psalms: The Grail Translation</i>. 1963.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Holy Bible,
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</i>. 1966.</span></div>
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</style>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-49021317291056484942018-07-05T17:00:00.000-05:002018-07-05T17:00:05.771-05:00Day Three, July 6: Novena to Saints Louis and Zélie Martin
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVyih17TNWXxWTbeDOb91xCltWBWplJ73wJxUQajtuXtg2OYI0y2yqNwOpRoafkHJumVTHVgyfEc4T3V4rbRtTIsXjRtKreXuR8LSSrOWxzSNWi98ZrwjLhsDmaB6dcQPEBecx5CG9UIQP/s1600/Porche_basilique.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="449" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVyih17TNWXxWTbeDOb91xCltWBWplJ73wJxUQajtuXtg2OYI0y2yqNwOpRoafkHJumVTHVgyfEc4T3V4rbRtTIsXjRtKreXuR8LSSrOWxzSNWi98ZrwjLhsDmaB6dcQPEBecx5CG9UIQP/s320/Porche_basilique.jpeg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Lady of Assumption Basilica in Alençon, Orne where <br />the Martin's were married. Photo by <span class="mw-mmv-author"><a class="new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se_of_Lisieux#mediaviewer/File:Porche_basilique.jpeg" title="User:Pierre-Yves Emile (page does not exist)">Pierre-Yves Emile.</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Day Three: Desire and
Welcome Life</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I came that they may
have life, and have it abundantly.” John 10:10</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“The family is the privileged setting where every person
learns to give and receive love. That is why the Church constantly wishes to
demonstrate her pastoral concern for this reality, so basic for the human
person. [...] It is the setting where men and women are enabled to be born with
dignity, and to grow and develop in an integral manner.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Married
couples must accept the child born to them, not simply as theirs alone, but
also as a child of God, loved for his or her own sake and called to be a son or
daughter of God.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Benedict
XVI, Fifth World Meeting of Families, 8–9 July 2006</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I therefore invite parents to pray, that the hearts of
their children may be open to listening to the Good Shepherd, and that each
tiny seed of a vocation [...] may grow into a mature tree, bearing much good
fruit for the Church and for all humanity.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Benedict
XVI, Regina Caeli, 25 April 2010</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“As for me, I’m crazy about children, I was born to have
them, but it will soon be time for that to be over. I’ll be forty-one years old
the twenty-third of this month, old enough to be a grandmother.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Letter
of Zélie to her sister-in-law, CF 83</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Don’t worry that your little Jeanne is too lively. That
won’t keep her from being an excellent child later on and from being a comfort
to you. I remember that Pauline was the same way until the age of two. I was
very upset about it, and now, she’s my best child. I must tell you that I
didn’t spoil her, and, as little as she was, I didn’t let her get away with
anything, yet without making a martyr out of her, but she had to obey.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Letter
of Zélie to her brother Isidore, CF 44</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Amid our life’s difficulties, Louis and Zélie Martin remind
us that God wants everyone to have superabundant life: he gives it in families
through children, and he gives it in other ways as well. Let us open our hearts
to receive what the Lord wants to give us. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psalm 139</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
O Lord, you search me and you know me,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
you know my resting and my rising,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
you discern my purpose from afar.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You mark when I walk or lie down,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
all my ways lie open to you.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Before ever a word is on my tongue,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
you know it, O Lord, through and through.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For it was you who created my being,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
knit me together in my mother’s womb.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I thank you for the wonder of my being,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
for the wonders of all your creation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Already you knew my soul,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
my body held no secret from you</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
when I was being fashioned in secret</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and molded in the depths of the earth.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Your eyes saw all my actions,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
they were all of them written in your book;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
every one of my days was decreed</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
before one of them came into being.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
O search me, God, and know my heart.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
O test me and know my thoughts.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
See that I follow not the wrong path</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and lead me in the path of life eternal.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Glory to the Father...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Novena Prayer</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
O God, in Louis and Zélie Martin you have given us an
example of holiness lived in marriage. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Look kindly upon the families of our time, and strengthen
them with your love; </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let young people find in them the support they need to hear
your voice and respond to your call. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Support the sick and the elderly with your power. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Louis and Zélie loved to pray to Notre-Dame des Victoires; through
her intercession, we present to you our intention for this novena...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(period
of silence, or state the intention)</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Watch over us, and lead us at last into your kingdom of
love.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Notre-Dame des Victoires, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Holy Family of Nazareth, pray for us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us.<br />------</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Sources</b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Novena translated by Elizabeth and Turner
Nevitt from: <i>Neuvaine par l’intercession
des bienheureux Louis and Zélie Martin</i>. Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires
(Paris). Éditions Salvator: Paris, 2010. Used with permission of Hervé Soubias,
rector of the Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires, Paris.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Louis and Zélie Martin. <i>A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family
Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863–1885</i>.
Ed. Frances Renda. Trans. Ann Conors Hess. New York: St Paul, 2010. Translation
of <i>Correspondance familiale (1863–1885)</i>,
Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2009.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">“Benedict XVI.” <a href="https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html">https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html</a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The
Psalms: The Grail Translation</i>. 1963.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Holy Bible,
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</i>. 1966.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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</style>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2216462056001391110.post-72974062162576164762018-07-04T17:00:00.000-05:002018-07-04T17:00:01.191-05:00Day Two, July 5: Novena to Saints Louis and Zélie Martin <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6vb7C-hfWGP1nqcZO8_d8AH2YLmU6TbUj_PB2cCYXIF2PB62t5YJYxcEuDpNlAaSajjX9TyzdDyOlAeJ04zMQ0vNgk1Ax7kNsX2xeLp4GH14LNrQM1EqOGeEIl9kxJx0XqXZcJsK_K-En/s1600/3926307881_9dc5872abb_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="640" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6vb7C-hfWGP1nqcZO8_d8AH2YLmU6TbUj_PB2cCYXIF2PB62t5YJYxcEuDpNlAaSajjX9TyzdDyOlAeJ04zMQ0vNgk1Ax7kNsX2xeLp4GH14LNrQM1EqOGeEIl9kxJx0XqXZcJsK_K-En/s320/3926307881_9dc5872abb_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Day Two: Serve God First</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Seek first his
kingdom, and all these things shall be yours as well.” Luke 12:31</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“...Prayer, which is personal friendship with Christ and
contemplation in him of the face of the Father, is indispensably at the root of
the formation of the Christian and of the transmission of the faith. The same
is, of course, also true for all our missionary commitment, and particularly
for the pastoral care of families: therefore, may the Family of Nazareth be for
our families and our communities the object of constant and confident prayer as
well as their life model.”</span></div>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Benedict
XVI, Address to the Participants in the Ecclesial Diocesan Convention of Rome,
6 June 2005</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Something strange happened to me recently with the little
one [Thérèse]. I’m used to going to the five-thirty mass. In the beginning I
didn’t dare leave her, but seeing that she never woke up, I ended up deciding
to leave her alone. I laid her in my bed and moved the crib so close to it that
it was impossible for her to fall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“One
day, I forgot to move the crib. When I got home I saw the little one was no
longer in my bed. At the same moment, I heard a cry. I looked, and I saw her
seated on a chair that was close to the head of my bed. Her little head was on
the bolster, and there she was sleeping restlessly because she was
uncomfortable.”</span></div>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Letter
of Zélie to her daughters Marie and Pauline, CF 119</span></span></div>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Everything I see is splendid, but it’s always an earthly
beauty, and our heart is satisfied with nothing as long as we’re not seeing the
infinite beauty that is God.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Letter
of Louis to his daughter Marie during a trip overseas (Milan), CF 229</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Placing our intention for this novena into the Lord’s hands,
we tell him of our desire to love him and serve him like Saints Louis and Zélie
Martin, knowing that everything will be given to us as well.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psalm 62</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">O God, you are my God, for you I long;<br />
for you my soul is thirsting.<br />
My body pines for you<br />
like a dry, weary land without water.<br />
So I gaze on you in the sanctuary<br />
to see your strength and your glory.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For your love is better than life,<br />
my lips will speak your praise.<br />
So I will bless you all my life,<br />
in your name I will lift up my hands.<br />
My soul shall be filled as with a banquet,<br />
my mouth shall praise you with joy.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">On my bed I remember you.<br />
On you I muse through the night<br />
for you have been my help;<br />
in the shadow of your wings I rejoice.<br />
My soul clings to you;<br />
your right hand holds me fast.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Glory to the Father...</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Novena Prayer</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">O God, in Louis and Zélie Martin you have given us an
example of holiness lived in marriage. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Look kindly upon the families of our time, and strengthen
them with your love; </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Let young people find in them the support they need to hear
your voice and respond to your call. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Support the sick and the elderly with your power. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Louis and Zélie loved to pray to Notre-Dame des Victoires; through
her intercession, we present to you our intention for this novena...</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>(period
of silence, or state the intention)</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Watch over us, and lead us at last into your kingdom of
love.</span></div>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Notre-Dame des Victoires, pray for us.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Holy Family of Nazareth, pray for us.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">------</span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Sources</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Novena translated by Elizabeth and Turner
Nevitt from: <i>Neuvaine par l’intercession
des bienheureux Louis and Zélie Martin</i>. Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires
(Paris). Éditions Salvator: Paris, 2010. Used with permission of Hervé Soubias,
rector of the Basilica of Notre-Dame des Victoires, Paris.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Louis and Zélie Martin. <i>A Call to a Deeper Love: The Family
Correspondence of the Parents of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, 1863–1885</i>.
Ed. Frances Renda. Trans. Ann Conors Hess. New York: St Paul, 2010. Translation
of <i>Correspondance familiale (1863–1885)</i>,
Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 2009.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Benedict XVI.” <a href="https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html">https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en.html</a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The
Psalms: The Grail Translation</i>. 1963.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The Holy Bible,
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition</i>. 1966.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
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</span></style>Susanna Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07914585040872714093noreply@blogger.com0