Nov. 30th, Feast of St. Andrew

Today we begin the beautiful Christmas Anticipation Prayer which is prayed 15 times per day from now til Christmas. 

"Hail and blessed be the hour and the moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, I beseech thee my Lord to hear my prayer and grant my desires (mention prayer request) through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother."

I can't remember exactly what I prayed for last year, but I suspect it was similar to what I prayed for today..salvation for my husband, children and grandchildren. And what I will pray for each day as we prepare for Your coming.

Last year, I think I prayed for a special blessing for my daughter because we had just finished the Thanksgiving family party for my dad. At that time, I once again felt my daughter's pain over something not right with her marriage. Her husband's neglect and disinterest of her was so evident that I am sure I prayed for a solution.

Months later, when she filed for divorce because of his infidelity, I knew she had been suffering for quite some time.

This year, I have just spent time with her and my granddaughter and I think my daughter is drinking too heavily. She is also looking for love on a dating site.

I pray that she will find Your love, my Lord. I hope she can find You in her loneliness. My prayers are that she answers Your call to her as she looks for love.

This year, I write about it so I can look back and know your love for me in answering my prayers and granting my desires, as I suspect you did last year, even though it meant a painful divorce for my beautiful daughter.

But, I don't know if she is strong enough to withstand the allures of worldly concerns.

So, I give her to you and to Blessed Mother.

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First Tuesday, Advent 2016

Today has been one of those days when worldly things seem to get in the way of prayer, meditation, conversation with God.

Doctors visit, trip to visit mother-in-law, grocery shopping  dinner. The day just seemed to slip away without my prayer time.

And I  just lost interest in my routine of prayers, even though those prayers and the ritual of spending time with the Lord is what has kept me safe and sane all these many years.

I read a new prayer today called The Set Aside Prayer. It goes like this:

"God, please help me set aside everything I think I know about  myself, this padsage and you, so I may have a new experience of these things."

Amen. I need  to set all aside that God can teach me about  myself and Himself and what He wants from me.

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First Monday of Advent 2016

Shadow creeps over the mountains as light fades

A New Beginning

"For over all, the Lord's glory will be shelter and protection: shade from the parching heat of day, refuge and cover from storm and rain."~ Isaiah 4:6

The start of Advent, coming as it does in the darkest part of the year, would seem an odd time to think of a new beginning.

At least, for non-Christians. 

Yet, it is the time when hope is brought forth from the darkness to shine brightly in our lives as we prepare for our Lord's coming.

The Lord promises us protection, from the natural elements that threaten us, as well as from evil that stalks around us, seeking our ruin.

How Blessed we are, to have the protection of the Lord of the universe as we journey ever closer to Him, waiting and watchful for the birth of our Savior in the deepest cold of winter's night.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.