In Honor of St. Catherine

    
     Being one of my favorite saints, I wanted to make sure I got in a quick little post about Saint Catherine of Siena before too much time had gone by her feast day.  Only two days, I don't think I did too bad :)

 

St. Catherine of Siena, 14th cen. philosopher and Doctor of the Church

     I apologize in advance because this post is less of me writing about this amazing saint and more my overwhelming you with a gazillion beautiful pictures and quotes.  Sorry about that ;) But I'll let her speak for herself, her writings are simply incredible and her life even more so!

  

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How important to remember, yet so easy to forget! 

 

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Growth through temptation and trial... 

 

When St. Catherine was 14, her mother arranged a betrothal between herself and the son of local merchant.  Catherine, however, had no wish to be married as she had already promised herself to Our Lord as His bride, so she cut off her beautiful long hair with her mother's sewing scissors to make herself undesirable to her suitor.

 

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Fear is understandable and silence is easy but it is only through truth and bravery that one will succeed.

I'm sure we've all heard this one... 

     I hope you survived my wordy ramble!  If you still want to know more on the life St. Catherine of Siena, I recommend you take a look here, here, and here.  Enjoy!

 Always,

~Emma

     

Introducing.....

Anastasia Therese!

     I want to thank you all SO much for your prayers for this little girl!  Believe it or not, she was born naturally at 3:15 am Easter Sunday morning, exactly 9 hours and 10 minutes after my prayer request! 

 And unsurprisingly, she is such a sweetheart!

 So again, thank you all for your prayers, I am so appreciative of them!

      Life has been pretty crazy around here lately, but I fully intend to get in at least one post about New York while I'm here.  One.  I have so many ideas floating around in my head right now I just need to find a few minutes to write them down!  Please, bear with me, I think you'll like them :)

Talk soon!

 Always,

 ~Emma

Because by Your Holy Cross, You have Redeemed the World

Just a little reflection I wrote last night...

 

     "Today, my dear Lord, is Good Friday.  It was today so many hundreds of years ago that You died on the Cross for the sins of the world, for my sins.  How awesome is it that as You hung there in the acutest of agonies You thought of each one of us, You even thought of me.  With what have I repaid You for this in my meager little life?  With what can I ever hope to repay You?  I have nothing to offer that You have not already given me, nothing to lighten this great debt I owe!  And so I offer the one thing in my power to give You, I offer You myself and all my imperfections.  Take them and refine these imperfections and turn them into deep sentiments of Faith, Hope, and Love.  I offer these gifts to You and place them at the foot of Your Holy Cross to remain there always.  Accept them, my Jesus, and remember me when You come into Your Kingdom!" 

     I have two prayer requests to ask of you all before I go, the first is for my great-uncle, who passed away early this morning from cancer.  He had been away from the Church and Sacraments for much of his adult life, please pray for the repose of his soul.

     And the second is for my sister who is several days overdue expecting my first niece.  It was revealed on an ultrasound this past week that the baby has shifted to a breech position (head up feet down) and unless she shifts into the correct position within the next few days, she may need to be delivered via C-section, emergency C-section if she hasn't shifted prior to the onset of labor.  Please pray for a safe delivery of both mama and baby!  St. Gerard, pray for us!

     Thank you all in advance for your prayers, you have no idea how much we appreciate them!

Always,

~Emma