Month: July 2018

Commentary · Crafts

Enjoying Crafts & An Exhortation

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Hi everyone,

I am sorry there will not be a full length post tonight. I have been very distracted today, Final Commentary Logobut I actually finished a craft which I had been working on for a long while. I am not telling you what it is today, but I should have a post out tomorrow about it! My thoughts have been dwelling especially upon what my favorite crafts are and why I enjoy them. Cross stitch, crochet, beading, and knitting are three of my favorite craft activities.

I was trying to pin down exactly why I like them. I think part of the reason is the fact that I can do them while listening to talks or shows. One of my favorite things to do is to watch videos or listen to podcasts while I work on my projects. I also like crafts because I can make people unique gifts. This is extremely enjoyable!

I do think that I have a tendency to “overdo” it on the crafts. By this I mean that sometimes I allow my enthusiasm for these activities to distract me from prayer. As in all things, temperance is a virtue here!

Moving on to the exhortation section of this blog post. In reading the news today, it becomes clear that the Devil is at work in today’s world. In a thousand different ways, in various times and places, he strives to keep us from Heaven. The power of evil seems so great, so deeply entrenched in our culture. It is important to remember that God always has the upper hand. The Devil is never more powerful or equal to God. We must trust God and be obedient to His Law. We must have faith, hope, and love in these times.

The reason I am writing about all this is simple. I cannot do much about the chaos in our culture. I cannot wave my hand and ban abortion, contraception, euthanasia, or gay “marriage”. What I can do, however, is love all of those who have become ensnared in these sinful activities. I can pray for them. I can beg God’s mercy. More than that, I can ask you all to do the same. So, my request to you is to pick up your rosary beads and say the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for our world. Here is a link to instructions on how to pray it from the Marians of the Immaculate Conception. May God richly bless all of you.

Commentary

Important Advice from Father Z

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I just read a wonderful blog post from Father Z. He has excellent advice for all faithful

Final Commentary LogoCatholics in these times. The Catholic faith possesses the beauty which truth alone can lay claim to. We, the laity, need to love it. It is only by knowing the truth that we can defend it from those who would seek to obscure it. I urge you all to take the time to read his post and take his advice. He links to some excellent resources in his post as well. Tolle lege! http://wdtprs.com/blog/2018/07/what-catholics-do-when-the-churchs-body-is-being-torn-apart/

Crafts

Lourdes Themed Rosary Bracelet

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Hello everyone! Today I want to share a craft with you. I really enjoy jewelry making, particularly making rosaries and rosary bracelets. Rosary bracelets are some of my favorite items. I love the ability to reach over to my wrist and pray the rosary anywhere I am, as well as the fact that they are a subtle reminder of prayer in the midst of the day. Recently I designed a rosary bracelet themed around Lourdes and want to show you all!

Supplies

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The Hail Mary and Our Father beads are 12mm turquoise colored round glass beads. To space the large beads, I used small 4mm clear glass round beads. Between the Hail Mary beads, I used one spacer bead. To separate the Our Father bead from the others, I used three spacer beads on each side. The beads are strung on 49 strand wire, which allows the bracelet to drape nicely. The fastener is a stainless steel lobster clasp and ring. Next to the Our Father bead, I placed a small crucifix and a medal with an image of Our Lady of Lourdes on one side and St. Bernadette on the other. I used crimp tubes on the ends of the bracelet.

I decided to use blue as the main color for several reasons. For one, blue is a color which is often associated with Our Lady. Fulton Sheen often quoted the poem (or was it a prayer) “Lovely Lady Dressed in Blue”, which is extremely beautiful. Another reason I chose blue as the main color is the fact that water was such an important part of Our Lady’s apparition at Lourdes. When unclasped, the bracelet is approximately 8.25 in. long. Overall I am happy with how this bracelet turned out. I particularly like the medal of Our Lady of Lourdes. The blue beads are a little bit larger than I usually go with for rosary bracelets, but I think the final effect is pleasing. These beads are crackled glass, which creates an interesting look when light shines through them.

Book Reviews · Reviews

Review of “Manual for Spiritual Warfare”

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Are you all doing well? I am having a really enjoyable summer. My one struggle is that

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everyday, I find another book I want to order! There are so many magnificent books to read, and it is not possible for me to get them all! I thought that today I would post a review of a book which I have greatly enjoyed. It is another TAN Books publication! Today I will be reviewing Paul Thigpen’s Manual for Spiritual Warfare, which is available here.

 

Physical Characteristics (Leatherette Edition) – 5/5 stars

Like so many of TAN’s publications, this book is truly beautiful. The cover is simple, but elegant. The leatherette feels very nice when being held and is durable. There is a ribbon bookmark. The pages are made of very nice creamy paper, with the printing in black with red accents. The edges of the pages are silver and shiny! It is the same size as the Manual for Eucharistic Adoration; just the right size to fit in a purse. Overall, this is a high quality volume.

Content – 5/5 stars

This book carries with it a nihil obstat and imprimatur, which is especially important in a book dealing with a topic like spiritual warfare. This book is divided into two sections. The first section, titled “Preparing for Battle”, is devoted to explaining Church teaching on the reality of the devil, how the virtues protect us from evil, as well as the importance of the Sacraments and the Mass in our spiritual lives. It also explains the various things which people need to avoid to keep from opening the doors of their souls to the devil. I really appreciated the sober treatment of these subjects. I also thought that the book did an excellent job in warning those who are not trained exorcists with the approval of the Church against attempting exorcisms or directly addressing the devil. By doing either one of these things, the Catholic exhibits spiritual pride and puts oneself in great spiritual danger. This section of the book is really well done. It provides much needed information to people in an age when the devil and hell are too often dismissed as myths.

The second part of the books is titled, “Aids in Battle”. It is really the prayer book section of this volume. It contains quotations from Scripture, which provide ample fruit for meditation and prayer. It also has quotations from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, quotations from various Church councils, and from the Saints. There are also many beautiful hymns and devotions. I particularly love the rosary meditations in this book.

The Manual of Spiritual Warfare is a wonderful resource dealing with a very important topic. It is not sensationalist, but rather provides a sober treatment of the topic of spiritual warfare.  It beautifully illustrates the truth that we can be confident that we are safe when we submit ourselves to the authority of the Church and frequent Mass and the Sacraments, and live virtuous lives. I really enjoyed the section which compiled many quotations from the saints. I had not seen a lot of these before and found them to be profound.

I would recommend this book to everyone. It is an invaluable resource for prayer and meditation!

Reviews · Reviews of Other Stuff

Review of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Rosary Pouch

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Happy Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel! Here is an interesting article from EWTN

BeFunky-photo (2)about this day. I love the Carmelite order very much, and I also frequently ask Our Lady’s intercession under her title as Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Thus, this is a day which means a lot to me. As an aside, I also find the connection between Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Fatima to be fascinating. If you don’t know what I am talking about, check out this article at the National Catholic Register here.  In honor of this feast day, I thought that I would post a review of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Rosary pouch. It is available from EWTN’s Religious Catalogue for $8 here.

4/5 stars

There is a beautiful image of Our Lady of Mount Carmel holding the Child Jesus, with each of them holding a brown scapular on each side of the rosary pouch. The image is very detailed, and has very beautiful golden threads woven throughout. You might be able to see from my picture, but some of the threads have ends poking out. The pouch is not unraveling, but I think what happened is that some of the ends were not woven in properly. This isn’t a big deal, but was a little disappointing.

The pouch is very large. I was able to fit my rosary and my St. Michael Chaplet inside and not fill it halfway. I think that this pouch would be excellent to take on a trip because of how much you could fit inside. I am thinking about keeping several holy cards in here…

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The zipper seems pretty nice. One thing which I absolutely love is the cross attached to the zipper. It is gorgeous! The inside of the pouch is lined with black fabric. This is an excellent rosary pouch for the price. The beautiful image of Our Lady of Mount Carmel holding the Child Jesus is the best part.