Unforgettable, Extended Celebration

Today is a big event in the Church because we commemorate the feastday of the Annunciation. We remember how St Gabriel declared to the Blessed Virgin Mary that God had chosen her to be the mother of His only Son. And we recall how Mary, after saying her unconditional "Yes" to God through St Gabriel, conceived the Word Made Flesh, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world.

As a beautiful start to our day, we went to Mass in celebration of the Annunciation. And because this is also the day we fly out to Los Angeles, we thought we'd go to Mass first thing - to allow us to do some last minute things. We're all eager to make the trip and at long last, we're finally packed and ready to go. Although, I must say - as we get closer to THE time, we keep finding more and more things to squeeze into our bags and suitcases. The kids keep finding this ball or that toy to take to the trip. :D

Well! I guess this is it. We're off to an adventure which would hopefully translate into happy memories to remember in time. We're very much looking forward to meeting and reuniting with family and friends, seeing new and interesting places, and of course enriching our faith life with our little self-devised Easter "retreat" at the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament, Alabama.

Also, although we touch down at our destination tomorrow, Oz time, it will still be the 25th of March in the USA. That certainly means an extended celebration for the feastday of the Annunciation. This alone makes it quite interesting already, especially for the kids!

Well, hopefully more time to celebrate and commemorate the event means... more time to avail of the graces attached to the feastday??

Happy feastday of the Annunciation! AVE MARIA!!!

St Joseph, Father and Patron

HAPPY ST JOSEPH'S DAY!!

Today we celebrate the feastday of St Joseph. This saint is best known as the foster father of Jesus, but he is also hailed as the Patron of the Catholic church and a great exemplar of faith and interior life.

Observing his feastday was a must for our family because St Joseph is one of the saints we feel very close to. Having been the protector of the Christ Child and His Virgin Mother, we can always rely on his fatherly protection. We also call on him quite often for intercession in most projects and undertakings. The kids fondly refer to him as Pappa Joseph; and he is the patron of both Roadrunner (our 2nd child) and I, as we both were named after the chaste saint.

Joseph of Nazareth (by TIME LIFE, starring Tobias Moretti) was an excellent portrayal of St Joseph, and last night the kids were engaged throughout most of the movie because it was very well made. The film emphasized how unreservedly abandoned St Joseph was to God's will, and how he was more a man of action who very rarely pursued to be heard. He was a man of constant prayer and steadfast interiority.

At school today, we had a discussion of how necessary it is to have that "interior silence" that is so important in order to be able to hear God's voice. For a couple of hours or so (much to my delight) we performed an "experiment" of being silent - in imitation of St Joseph. We all taped our mouths, refrained from talking and just quietly went about our respective tasks. (Actually, I don't think it would hurt if we imposed this practice a little more often, especially after seeing how well the 3 older ones did - perhaps for an hour or so every 19th of the month would be an idea. Besides, it was such a great atmosphere having the peace and quiet! Of course we will aim to do away with the taping of the mouths next time; and perhaps it can be more like a "silence game" where the ultimate goal is to stay silent for the longest possible time. And this would be so great to teach ourselves to appreciate and value silence the way we should - especially in this world whelmed by noise and all sorts of distractions where it is neither easy to recollect nor hear God's voice.


During our morning devotion, we incorporated a beautiful prayer to St Joseph, which is best said as a novena but for us made this day start off that little bit more centred on our favourite patron saint. The prayer is too good not to share with others, so here goes:

NOVENA TO ST JOSEPH
(taken from Radiant Heart Prayerbook)

Ever blessed and glorious Joseph,
kind and loving father
and helpful friend of all in sorrow,
you are the good father and protector of orphans,
the defender of the defenseless,
the patron of those in need and sorrow.
Look kindly on my request.
My sins have drawn down on me
the just displeasure of my God,
and so I am surrounded with unhappiness.
To you, loving guardian of the Family of Nazareth
do I go for help and protection.
I ask it by the loveliness and power
of that Sacred Name - Jesus
which you conferred on the adorable Infant.
I ask it by the painful torture you felt
at the prophecy of Holy Simeon
which declared the Child Jesus and His Holy Mother
future victims of our sins and of Their great love for us.
I ask it through your sorrow and pain of soul
when the angel declared to you
that the life of the Child Jesus was sought by His enemies.
From their evil plan, you had to flee
with Him and His Blessed Mother to Egypt.
I ask it by all the sufferings, weariness and labours
of that long and dangerous journey.
I ask it by all your care to protect the Sacred Child
and His Immaculate Mother during your second journey
when you were ordered to return to your own country.
I ask it by your peaceful life in Nazareth
where you met with so many joys and sorrows.
I ask it by your great distress when the adorable Child
was lost to you and His Mother for three days.
I ask it by your joy at finding Him at the Temple,
and by the comfort you found at Nazareth
while living in the company of the Child Jesus.
I ask it by the wonderful submission He showed
in His obedience to you.
I ask it by the perfect love and conformity
you showed in accepting the divine order
to depart from this life
and from the company of Jesus and Mary.
I ask it by the joy which filled your soul
when the Redeemer of the world,
triumphant over death and hell,
entered into the possession of His Kingdom
and led you into it with special honours.
I ask it through Mary's glorious Assumption
and through that endless happiness
you have with her in the presence of God.
O good father, I beg you,
by all your sufferings, sorrows, and joys,
to hear me and obtain for me what I ask.

(Mention your intention/s.)

Obtain for all those who have asked my prayers
everything that is useful to them in the plan of God.
Finally, my dear patron and father,
be with me in my last moments
that I may eternally sing these praises:

JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH,
I give you my heart and my soul!

JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH,
assist me in my last agony!

JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH
may I breathe forth my soul in peace with Thee!

We spent most of the morning baking "St Joseph's Tools" shortbread. We made the cookies in the shape of a hammer, a wrench, a saw and also a lily (symbol for purity). Considering that it was our first attempt at making shortbread cookies, it did not turn out too badly. We used the leftover butter icing mixture from 2 days ago (used to ice our St Patrick cake) which was still quite appropriate since St Joseph's colour also happens to be, guess what?.. yes, GREEN! Actually, it was a little sweet for my liking(Whoa! I used to be such a sweet tooth but I've seemingly mellowed - hmm.. maybe it comes with age..), but the kids didn't mind it at all.


To finalize the day's celebrations we will be going to evening Mass in commemoration of St Joseph, after which we also hope to spend an hour or so in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament to thank Jesus for the witness of the life of this wonderful saint, who will always be a great model for the practice of our faith; and to ask for the grace to be more like him.

Sancte Joseph,
Dei Genitricis sponse,
Christi defensor sedule,
Almae Familiae praeses,
Amator paupertatis
Exemplar opificum,
Domesticae vitae decus,
Custos virginum,
Familiarum columen,
Solatium miserorum,
Spes aegrotantium,
Patrone morientium,
Terror daemonum,
Protector sanctae Ecclesiae
ORA PRO NOBIS!

Happy St Paddy's Day!

Yesterday, March 17 was the feastday of St Patrick.

St Patrick is the Apostle and Patron of Ireland. From an earlier life under slavery in his native country, he escaped into Britain, studied for the priesthood and was later on installed as Bishop where, with great profit, he used his God-given talents to convert the whole of Ireland. And thanks to St Patrick, the Irish people have maintained their fidelity to the Roman Catholic Church, just like the legendary saint.

Our St Paddy's celebrations were simple enough to carry out in the midst of all the tail-chasing at the moment - what with the preparations for the trip next week, etc. Actually, the children started the night before by watching a couple of St Patrick movies.

In the morning, we went out to collect Brighteyes' passport, among others - which, I was told, (via email) was actually processed and issued on Monday which is the very next business day after it was lodged last Friday - (Hats off to the Australian Passport Office for getting the job done in no time. Thank God, indeed!!!) Typical me, I initially thought I'd be making a cake from scratch (for our St Patrick's Day celebrations) but eventually opted for the quickest and easiest way and purchased a banana cake, took it home, reshaped and decorated it as our St Paddy's cake.

We whipped a small block of butter with icing sugar and a dash of green food colouring (green being St Patrick's colour) into the perfect yummy frosting and spread it all over our shamrock-shaped cake. Shamrock, of course, is the most popular symbol for St Patrick which is reminiscent of how he, in his explanations about the Blessed Trinity (One God, Three Persons), likened It to a shamrock leaf which has three separate leaflets united by one stalk.

In the evening, we were graced to attend Holy Mass which commemorated the well-known Irish saint. We bumped into a few close friends whom we were able to share good wishes with on this very special solemnity.

Back home, we dug into our little shamrock cake which was topped with our St Patrick figurine and surrounded with green M&M's, with the table laden with a few green balloons.

Finally, being a great activity to fall back on when one has not done much preparations in the way of craft activities, etc., we tackled some serious colouring-in. So to finish off the day's celebrations, we each coloured a St Patrick picture. And yes, even Tatay and Mommy got right into it, too.

Deus, qui ad praedicandam gentibus gloriam tuam beatum Patricium Confessorem atque Pontificem, mittere dignatus es: ejus meritis et intercessione concede; ut, quae nobis agenda praecipis, te miserante adimplere possimus. (collect, Proper of St Patrick)

March Madness

The last few weeks have been rather chaotic around the house. Nevertheless, we have been trying hard to focus on our Lenten observances, although we have had to deal with distractions, as well.

Brighteyes turned 2 last March 10, but we decided to keep it quiet and celebrate in and amongst our own family. The birthday celebration mainly consisted of going to Mass (for thanksgiving) and singing "happy birthday" to our little celebrant over a small caramel mudcake (purchased, and took 2 minutes to decorate) which everyone enjoyed.

Some weeks ago, hubby decided he wanted to take the family to America to meet his relatives. Although I have met most of his family on our trip over in 1999, I thought it would be wonderful for the kids to finally meet their cousins, aunties and uncles in hubby's side of the family. Also, hubby wanted to visit 2 of his ailing aunties, one of them afflicted with cancer. So, although I was reluctant at first to travel at this time of the year, this trip - I'm glad - will be largely family oriented.

The "big trip" is set for the third week of the month, to stay for 3 weeks. But being the most disorganized person I know, I am ashamed to say that I have only applied for a passport for Brighteyes last week, and we only have 1 1/2 weeks to go before we are scheduled to fly out! Well, if God wills it, it will happen.

Among the things I plan to organize for the trip include some activities for the kids to keep focused on this liturgical season. Also, hubby and I spoke about daily Mass and how we would really like to keep the practice up even while on this trip. We hope not to compromise on our family prayer time, so sacramentals (i.e. rosaries, prayerbooks) will be in our packing list, too. We also resolved not to visit places like Disneyland and the like, because we both decided it could very well ruin the austerity of the season which we are trying hard to achieve. Besides, we both agreed it will have no benefits for the kids, whatsoever.

However, apart from spending time with family, we have also arranged to go on a side trip on the Holy Triduum-Easter period (i.e. Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday) to the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama to participate in the activities leading up to the big feastday of Easter. We are of course very much looking forward to it. In fact, the kids are so excited about this part of the trip that we can often hear them talking about meeting this personality and that - especially those that they have gotten to know through the years on EWTN, the Catholic Network. We have strong doubts about this, though - especially knowing what a busy time it will be in the liturgical year for all religious; but getting to the shrine would be such a great blessing already!

Packing for the trip is yet to start, especially because I have been procrastinating about it, but I am hoping to finally get started with it by this weekend. We plan to travel light, but I don't know how possible that is, especially packing for 6 people and having been told that we will be needing some warm clothes for our stay.

Meanwhile, my 2 students have been plodding along fine at school. We have tried hard to stick to the timetable and lesson plans. Although going on this trip will mean we would have to work extra hard when we get back in order to catch up with the work that we will be lagging behind on, we will choose not to worry about it until we return. :)

By and large, we are all looking forward to the trip, especially about hubby reuniting with his family after more than 10 years, myself reuniting with a very special person in my life that I have not seen for about the same time, and the children finally meeting other members of the family. And of course, the Easter pilgrimage will be an extra special highlight, as well.

Laudate Dominum, quia benignus est: psallite nomini ejus, quoniam suavis est: omnia quaecumque voluit, fecit in coelo et in terra. (offertory verse, 4th Sunday of Lent)