when life is hard pray When Life Is Great Pray

Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

[hissaltandlight]

Novena Prayer:

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving Holy Church as I should, above every earthly thing, and of ever showing my love by deeds.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of openly professing as I should, with courage and without human respect, the faith that I received as your gift in holy Baptism.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of sharing as I should in the defense and propagation of the Faith when duty calls, whether by word or by the sacrifice of my possessions and my life.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of loving my family and others in mutual charity as I should, and establish us in perfect harmony of thought, will, and action, under the rule and guidance of the shepherds of the Church.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, bless me and grant me the grace of conforming my life fully as I should to the commandments of God’s law and those of His Holy Church, so as to live always in that charity which they set forth.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I ask in particular this special favor:

(Mention your favor).

Dedication of One’s Family:

Most loving Jesus, by Your sublime and beautiful virtues of humility, obedience, poverty, modesty, charity, patience, and gentleness, You blessed with peace and happiness the family which You chose on earth. In Your mercy look upon my family. We belong to You, for we have received Your many blessings over many years and we entrust ourselves to Your loving care.

Look upon my family in Your loving kindness, preserve us from danger, give us help in time of need, and grant us the grace to persevere to the end in imitation of Your holy Family, so that having revered You and loved You faithfully on earth, we may praise You eternally in heaven.

Mary, dearest Mother, to your intercession we have recourse, knowing that your Divine Son will hear your prayers. Glorious patriarch, Saint Joseph, help us by your powerful prayers and offer our prayers to Jesus through Mary’s hands. Amen.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, being subject to Mary and Joseph, You sanctified family life by Your beautiful virtues. Grant that we, with the help of Mary and Joseph, may be taught by the example of Your holy Family, and may after death enjoy its everlasting companionship.

Lord Jesus, help us ever to follow the example of Your holy Family, that in the hour of our death Your glorious Virgin Mother together with Saint Joseph may come to meet us, and we may be worthy to be received by You into the everlasting joys of heaven. You live and reign forever. Amen.

[artist-mantegna]

Adoration of the Magi, 1460, Andrea Mantegna

Medium: tempera

[redeemed-renewed-restored]

[biblicalle]

Art of  Mother Mary and baby Jesus from:

India, Iran, Indonesia

Ethiopia, Peru, Korea,

Russia, Turkey, Greece

[acatholicrose]

[acatholicrose]

[acatholicrose]

[eternal-echoes]

“Silence is God’s first language.”

— St. John of the Cross (via westdesertsage)

[hissaltandlight]

One of my Christmas gifts from @alwaysabeautifullife ♥️📿

[rossodimarte]

MASTER FRANCKE - Vir Dolorum (Man of Sorrows) by Faces of Ancient Europe on Flickr.

MASTER FRANCKE - Vir Dolorum (Man of Sorrows)

[alwaysabeautifullife]

Hey so obviously it won’t even be sent out by Christmas, but I found a priest who is also a friar that makes and sells really incredible rosaries, they are the ones that are made of metal beads and paracord. I wanted to buy a couple people some to send as a “Christmas gift” from our fam (@hissaltandlight).

I don’t think I’ll be able to ship outside of the US, only because he will be shipping them himself and I don’t think he offers it (I know customs for stuff is super annoying right now). But if you would like one just reblog this, if there are like a ton of reblogs I’ll just draw names out of a hat sort of thing. I’ll buy them this evening (when baby is in bed), so any reblogs after 9pm PT (12/22/20) won’t count. You don’t have to have any special reason for wanting it, whether it’s for yourself, for a gift to someone else, it doesn’t really matter. Maybe they will arrive in time for Epiphany!

He’s the one who made my sons momento mori rosary that looks like this:

The colors of paracord he has available for 5 decade rosaries right now are blue, black, navy, and olive green.

The single decade rosaries he has pink, red plaid, blue, olive green, and black (a momento mori).

Don’t need to be following me or anything just reblog if you want one.

[givemearmstopraywith]

joan of arc by gilbert anthony pownall (1914) // only if for a night by florence + the machine (x)

[warchaplain]

Warrior of Faith, Soldier of Christ, Daughter of God.

[the-provincial-paladin-deactiva]

[alwaysabeautifullife]

Me when I feed a seagul in the parking lot of McDonalds

[alwaysabeautifullife]

i just recently had an abortion over the weekend and it was great that i had access to it, without it my boyfriend and i would of had to drop out of college and ruin our lives but apparently abortion is sooo wrong when its not even a baby, its a parasite made of cells that have no feelings that is leaving my body, people like you make me sick‏

When I first read this post, I thought I would just delete it like the rest. I know your intentions were to cause me suffering, and if causing me suffering means you win, then I guess you have. To be honest, lying in this hospital bed, it is young women like you that I think about the most.

I was once like you. I was once told that aborting my children was the answer to my life. I was once told that my boyfriend too would have to drop out of the University he attended, and I wouldn’t be able to attend the following year after I graduated from High School. The funny thing was, because of my son, my ex-boyfriend and I qualified for several grants and scholarships. In fact, I’m one of the few people I know that was able to go to school without taking out student loans. Which is probably why I’m a home owner at 26.

I was once like you. “Its a clump of cells,” they told me. “Its a parasite,” they said. When scientifically speaking, that’s inaccurate. It is a fetus, or an unborn human being. I know a human becomes easier to kill once you label it something else. This is called dehumanization. You don’t need to dehumanize the unborn human being, you can just call it what it is; you aborted an underdeveloped human being.

As I look into my sons eyes, I don’t see a parasite, or a clump of cells. I see a brown haired, fair skin, goofy 8 year old human being. I see a human being with the exact same body as the one they called a parasite when it was in my womb. His body grows a little more every year, and every year he gets stronger. “Mom, let me help you with that.” he says, as I struggle to carry bags into the house. “Mom, wait, I’ll get it for you,” he says, as he jumps in front of me to reach for the door to open it. His body is more developed, that’s for sure, but it it the same as it was when it was tiny and growing inside me.

I was once like you. “It will ruin your life,” they said. “You’re a child yourself”, they said. That’s the strangest. As I lie in this hospital bed, at risk of death, I have no fear. I am 26 years old, and have absolutely nothing more that I could ask for to make me happier. If keeping my son ruined my life, then why do I have everything I want? Why am I so content with my short life, if it was ruined the day he was born? The love and happiness I have experienced in my short life, is enough to feel fulfilled, complete. My life is beautiful, and my children were the ones that made it that way.

When I cry, my children burry their heads on my chest, wipe my tears with their tiny fingers. When I smile, they run to me, wrap their arms around me, lean back and giggle. What have they destroyed in my life besides all that was bitter, hateful and selfish? Besides all those awful parts of me they peeled away with their tenderness, and gentleness.

I’m sorry that when you terminated your pregnancy, you felt nothing, and I’m afraid that is where we are different. I couldn’t bring myself to dehumanize the tiny human being inside my body, even though it was under developed, dependent and inconvenient. I felt. And I’m the one who feels for you now. I can feel the loss for your unborn human being.

I know you assume I think I’m “better then you”. But it’s exactly the opposite. As I lay here in this bed, ready to give my life for the child inside of me right now, it isn’t just because its my child. It’s because it is a human being. I am willing to die for an underdeveloped, dependent and inconvenient human being, because that human is my equal. You are my equal, your child is my equal, and I don’t have it in me to view my life as more valuable then anyone else’s. I can’t use any reason to take an innocent human being, dehumanize it, and place it under me. And I don’t want to.

I’m sorry that people like me make you sick, but I think if you really new me, you wouldn’t feel that way. Maybe if you knew me, you could see that my life is beautiful and wonderful just like yours, and just like every human being. I believe that your life is precious, and you were made for more love then you comprehend, and I’m so sorry you can’t see the value of life.

Life is precious. It is a divine right, it is so precious that I would be willing to die if that is the cost for another to live.

Months from now, I hope that you read this and I’m living with my new beautiful child, in my modest house, with the rest of my family, but if I’m not, I want you to remember that it made me happy to risk my life for another human being, and I would gladly do it even for someone who was sickened by me; I would even do it for you.

Life is invaluable.

[hissaltandlight]

So if my Dads passing wasn’t enough ...my sister messaged me today that her and her husband want to separate they’ve been together 17 years and married 7 if you could pray for them I would appreciate 🙏🏻

[moms-sacramentals]

Spider (🕷) my 14 year old son worked for 4 days on this Joan of Arc brown scapular. I told him about a month ago that I was frustrated with not being able to create one, as usually I pray before I begin and I felt as though I was not “divinely inspired” yet for a design at all for Joan of Arc. He began immediately. He spent a lot of time, over 6 hours a day working. It’s very beautiful and he put little details into it with careful meaning. For example the 13 leaves of the thistle plant are for the age believed she began having visions of Angels/Saints. He also put the Cross of Lorainne on it, and the Sacred Heart. Very proud of him for all his hard work. He felt discouraged during most of the making, like all beginners do, but as we finished making it he said “it looks so good when we add it to the brown scapular and attach everything, it really came together, I think I could do this...”

It would make sense if St. Joan of Arc chose to divinely inspire someone, she would choose my son over me lol

Here is the listing if interested.

Joan of Arc Cross of Lorraine Catholic Wool Brown Scapular with Sacred Heart and Thistles

This scapular is made by Spider (14yrs). It is a Joan of Arc scapular, with the 13 leaves on the thistle plant to represent the time when sh