Sundays With the Saints

St. Elizabeth Bichier

Feast Day: August 26

       Elizabeth was born in 1773. As a little girl, her favorite game was building castles in the sand. Many years later, this holy French woman had to take charge of building convents for the order of nuns she founded. "I guess building was meant to be my business," she joked, "since I started it so young!" In fact, by 1830, eight years before her death, Elizabeth had already opened over sixty convents. During the time of the French Revolution, Elizabeth's family lost everything they owned. This was because the republicans were taking property from the nobility. But this intelligent young woman of nineteen studied law so she could fight her family's case in court. When she won and saved her family from ruin, the village shoemaker exclaimed- "All you have to do now is marry a good republican!" Elizabeth, however, had no intention of marrying anyone--republican or noble. On the back of a picture of Our Lady, she had written: "I dedicate and consecrate myself to Jesus and Mary forever." With the help of St. Andrew Fournet, Elizabeth started a new religious order called the Daughters of the Cross. We celebrate St. Andrew Fournet's feast on May 13. This new order taught children and cared for the sick. Elizabeth would face any danger to help people. Once she found a tramp lying sick in a barn. She brought him to the convent hospital and did all she could for him until he died. The next morning the police chief came to tell her she could be arrested for sheltering a man believed to be a criminal. Elizabeth was unafraid. "I only did what you yourself would have done, sir," she said. "I found this poor sick man, and took care of him until he died. I am ready to tell the judge just what happened." Of course, the saint's honesty and charity won her great respect. People admired her straight, clear answers. The order's co-founder, St. Andrew Fournet, died in 1834. St. Elizabeth wrote to the sisters, "This is our greatest and most sad loss." St. Elizabeth died on August 26, 1838. She was proclaimed a saint by Pope Pius XII in 1947. St. Elizabeth Bichier was courageous and energetic. We can pray to her if we realize that we are not as generous in our Christian vocation as we should be. She will help us be generous followers of Jesus.


(Courtesy of: http://www.wjpbr.com/saintalp.html)

Another Summer Day

First:	Jeremiah 30:1-2,12-15,18-22
Resp:	Psalm 102:16-21,29,22-23
Gospel:	Matthew 14:22-36

Today was definitely a hot, hazy summer day where you just want to stay inside under the air conditioning!  It's pretty funky out there, folks. BUT... on that note... I *am* glad that we at least get the green grass and trees and colorful flowers this summer!  I try to remind myself that there is still beauty out there even though it's too dang hot to enjoy it most days, LOL!

I've been thinking a lot about the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe where my friend Pam and I went back in February. Such a place of beauty!  And the choir was just incredible. I sure wish we had a choir like that in our own parish!  Don't get me wrong - I love our parish. ♥  The people are warm, friendly and it feels like "home". Plus, Fr. Tony is awesome! But I definitely want to go back to the cathedral and visit sometime. It was such a huge part of my journey to God that it feels like a part of me now.

There is a lot going on lately and sometimes it's tough to calm my mind and stop thinking about it all. School is about to begin for D, I will soon need to go back out into the workforce and find employment, my sister will need to find another babysitter ... it's a lot to deal with!  But I know that everything is happening the way it is for a reason, and that if I trust in God, He'll handle all the details. He's never let me down before even when things seemed utterly hopeless. I also know that there are a good many friends of mine who are in need of prayer lately, so for all of us, I pray...

OUR FATHER

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be
Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done,
on earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us
not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

HAIL MARY

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is
the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

GLORY BE

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Hooray for Chick-Fil-A!

Today's Readings:
First: Jeremiah 15:10,16-21
Resp: Psalm 59:2-4,10-11,17-18
Gospel: Matthew 13:44-46

Not a whole lot going on today. My beautiful daughter, my mama and I went and grabbed some groceries this morning and then it was off for a day of babysitting my nieces and nephews. The baby was a little crabby but it's to be expected because the poor little monkey is teething. :( My older niece and I watched a cupcake show and it renewed my passion for starting my own cupcake business. Darn that show! ;) Now all I want to do is sit around and bake cupcakes all day!

 Dylann and I cleaned out her closet yesterday and I believe we have (so far) about six trash bags full of clothes to donate to the women's shelter. I know we have a full bag of books as well, and we still haven't taken the books off of her closet shelf yet -- yikes! Soooo many books (hey, she used to be an avid reader)! It will sure be nice to have the closet totally cleaned out so we can start organizing before school starts (twenty-six days, yahooo!!!).

 I'm really excited to hear that Chick-Fil-A had such a great turnout for their Appreciation Day! I keep reading status updates about long waits and there were even some stores who ran out of food! YAY! That is great! So thankful for the president of the company standing up for his beliefs!