Listen to our Hearts

One of my favorite songs....:-)

"Let us tell Jesus that we want to talk, think, and live as he would, to die with him and not to have any other ideal besides that of being his living image." ~Blessed James Alberione

St. Gaetano Errico

"Let us kindle the love of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in the hearts of all people..." -St. Gaetano Errico

This is his first feastday as a saint!! He was recently canonized by our German Shepherd on October 12. :-)

"God alone sufficeth..."

"There is no such thing as bad weather. All weather is good because it is God's." Saint Teresa of Avila

Since I've already posted several of the saints' stories, I've decided for this year (until next May) to write about their childhood and vocation story (before becoming ordained or entering convent). Part 2, which will be about...well, the next part, I will write next year. :-) If I haven't done a saint's childhood this year, I'll have to do it next time. (Like St. Faustina's feastday I missed:-( )

Childhood~

Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada (wow long name...) grew up in a family of ten. Six brothers and only one sister. :-S Not to mention several other servants... But her 'favorite' sibling was her older brother who was closest to her, Rodrigo. They would often hide away in the garden and have their own religious discussions. Most would be about becoming martyrs. They probably based their attraction of martyrdom on the fact that the finest church in Avila had the relics of three child martyrs of Rome: Vincent, Cristeta, and Sabina. When Teresa was seven, they even attempted to run away to North Africa were they were sure that the Moslems would kill them. After they were sadly taken away by their uncle home, Rodrigo, whose feet were already sore, blamed it all on little Teresa, "It was la nina (little girl) who dragged me into it." Both were soundly punished. :-(

Besides the great desire to be martyred, she also wanted to become a nun. She built her own cloister with stones from the garden. Unfortunately, it collapsed, leaving Teresa planning something else. Cloth began to disappear from the house as Teresa then decided to make her own habit. Her impatient desire for instant sanctity only resulted as more trouble.

After a while she got tired of it. By the time she was fifteen, she was considered as one of the most beautiful ladies in Avila. Her sweet 'piousness' turned into sour frivolous. Like many other vocation stories, this was the part right before setting out for Damascus. Her father, fed up with her flirtations, sent her off to a convent at the age of sixteen for an education and discipline. Teresa wasn't too happy about that. Once there, she managed to keep in contact with her worldly friends, feeling cooped or locked up.

But after some time, and ever so slowly, she began to realize what she had been doing. Teresa began to worry, "Should I be a nun, or a wife?" Nervous strains and exhaustions made her feel rather ill as she thought up reasons not to enter the convent. She couldn't take it anymore. She came back home, and while keeping the house for her family, thought and discerned what God wanted of her. But it began to be just too obvious. God was calling her, and who was she to stand against His Holy Will? Teresa stopped worrying and at the age of twenty, against her father's wishes, she ran off to the Carmelite Convent of the Incarnation.

To be continued... ;-)

O my God! Source of all mercy! I acknowledge Your sovereign power. While recalling the wasted years that are past, I believe that You, Lord, can in an instant turn this loss to gain. Miserable as I am, yet I firmly believe that You can do all things. Please restore to me the time lost, giving me Your grace, both now and in the future, that I may appear before You in "wedding garments." Amen.

~Saint Teresa of Avila

Pic, prayer, and quote source & info from the book: Catholic World Culture, and yes, my history schoolbook.

Picture meme

Mahalo to Pueo for tagging me! :-D

Here's the deal - go to your pictures, go to the 6th file, go to the 6th picture and then post it. For bonus points [yeah, sure, there's points] see if you can remember even taking the picture.

Well....I've got a problem too. :-P ...actually, really two. Since Cy and I use the same computer, I'll probably end up with the same picture (unless I miscount :-P) ;-). But (currently) I'm using the laptop on which my profile doesn't have a sixth folder. (yeah, that's how small it is...) For me, there's only three folders: the sample pics, the bulging folder of JMJ holy cards, and yes, the gigantic one with the saint cards. The rest of the pictures that I have are lying around in the My Pictures ...I don't usually blog with this computer, but anyway...

Oh right, I forgot... I didn't take any pictures that are in my folders. :-(

Here's the sixth picture:

NOTE: I did not take this picture!! (but that'd be so awesome if I did ;-) ) That was a long time ago. No, Sr. Kim, or Sr. Maria Kim as she is called now, sent this one to me (by email) some time before she was professed. She said she and her other fellow novices were at a... I can't remember. It was a book something... I've forgotten what she called it. I had to delete the message because of this advertisement that I thought that was real saying that I was over limit on my email space. I never did delete emails before... so then... :-P Anyways, I'm happy to say that (or type) that (I'm pretty sure) that all those novices in the photo all had their first profession now! :-D

I tag Kaila,

and anyone who hasn't done this one yet! :-)

How well do you know St. Paul?

...Okay I guess. :-P

H/T to Nunblog

St. Paul Interactive Game

I got three swords around the second journey... (no fair! the computer was so slow.... :-P ;-)
Hopefully you can get much better than that! :-D

"Always preserve a healthy optimism.

History is the teacher of life, and our past experiences school us for the future.

All things work together for the good."

~Bl. James Alberione

Martyrs of Turon

St. Anicet Adolfo
St. Augusto Andres
St. Benito de Jesus
St. Benjamin Julian
St. Cirilo Bertra'N
St. Inocencio de la Immaculada
St. Julian Alfredo
St. Marciano Jose
St. Victoriano Pio

Brothers of the Christian Schools martyred in 1934 in the persecutions of the Spanish Civil War.

source

PS~Sorry this was posted so late again. :-P

St. Therese feastday!! :-D

(video taken from Cy's blog last year)

Sorry this was posted soooo late. I would've made a video myself, but I haven't had the time lately. :-)
I remember the first time (I mean, second time :-P) I saw this movie... It was with some of my friends at the movie theater when it first came out. It was supposed to be just with friends, but the mothers insisted that they would go. We all went in with that 'okay... I wonder what this movie is kinda about' feeling, and came out with tears. (or, at least the moms did)
I have to say that my favorite parts were when St. Therese and her sisters really treated each other like good siblings. ;-) Like the many times when Celine cheered her up (in school) and gave up entering the convent sooner so that Therese wouldn't have to stay to take care of her father... and when Pauline helped her in (home)schooling her(!!). And when they all prayed for her when she was sick and the time when they all performed the play about St. Joan of Arc!
I really love the soundtrack of this movie! It really fits her. It was nice to know that it was composed by another nun named after St. Therese. Another interesting fact to know is that the actress (who played St. Therese...and I can't remember her name) became converted and took the name Faustina Therese. :-) Has anyone else out there seen it? :-)