My Friend Tony

And yep, I mean St. Anthony of Padua, whose Feast is today!

How many times have people prayed some version of the prayer:

"Tony, Tony, come around.

Something's lost and must be found"?

I know St. Anthony is ALWAYS helping me find stuff.

Years ago, when I had just recently converted to Catholicism, I called

Mom at work (It was her usual break time.)

Mom said, "I can't talk right now. We're missing an important file and

we've looked all over for it."

"Okay," I said, "call me back when it turns up."

Well, within five minutes she called me. The file had been found.

"Aren't you going to thank me?" I asked.

"Thank you? What for? You're not even here."

"I know," I said, "but who do you think prayed to St. Anthony?"

More recently, I was chatting with a couple of my online friends, and

one of them was going slightly nuts because she had misplaced something, and couldn't find it anywhere. I said a prayer to St. Anthony, and then typed,

"Try looking again."

She didn't want to, but I persuaded her. And then she typed, in caps

"I FOUND IT!!!!!!"

I wasn't a bit surprised!

Does St. Anthony ALWAYS get lost articles back for me? Well, almost! One morning I couldn't find my Rosary. I looked. I prayed. To my surprise, I still did

not find it. But later that morning, I received a brand-new, beautiful Rosary from a Catholic organization. I'm almost SURE I heard St. Anthony chuckling.

BTW, the lost Rosary did turn up eventually.

Of course, there's much more to St. Anthony than just running the Lost and Found! :)

St. Anthony of Padua

Updated in 2013 to add Fr. Anthony's very inspirational homily.

The First Saint I Ever Heard Of (Reposted)

Slightly adapted from a post in one of my old blogs

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary. (Transferred because yesterday was a Sunday in Lent.)  People love to quote the saints, but we cannot quote St. Joseph. None of his words have been preserved.
I take that back about not being able to quote St. Joseph. We cannot quote his words, but we can, and should, "quote" his devotion to Jesus and Mary.
St. Joseph was the first saint I ever heard of, but that was because of the children's aspirins! LOL!
I like simple, homely {homely as in homelike, not, definitely not, as in unattractive] images. I love to think about St. Joseph walking the floor when the Baby Jesus was teething.

Contrary to Any Impression We May Get From The Secular Media----

----This is NOT a picture of St. Patrick!

My Friend Tony (Old Post)

And yep, I mean St. Anthony of Padua, whose Feast is today!

How many times have people prayed some version of the prayer:

"Tony, Tony, come around.

Something's lost and must be found"?

I know St. Anthony is ALWAYS helping me find stuff.

Years ago, when I had just recently converted to Catholicism, I called

Mom at work (It was her usual break time.)

Mom said, "I can't talk right now. We're missing an important file and

we've looked all over for it."

"Okay," I said, "call me back when it turns up."

Well, within five minutes she called me. The file had been found.

"Aren't you going to thank me?" I asked.

"Thank you? What for? You're not even here."

"I know," I said, "but who do you think prayed to St. Anthony?"

More recently, I was chatting with a couple of my online friends, and

one of them was going slightly nuts because she had misplaced something, and couldn't find it anywhere. I said a prayer to St. Anthony, and then typed,

"Try looking again."

She didn't want to, but I persuaded her. And then she typed, in caps

"I FOUND IT!!!!!!"

I wasn't a bit surprised!

Does St. Anthony ALWAYS get lost articles back for me? Well, almost! One morning I couldn't find my Rosary. I looked. I prayed. To my surprise, I still did

not find it. But later that morning, I received a brand-new, beautiful Rosary from a Catholic organization. I'm almost SURE I heard St. Anthony chuckling.

BTW, the lost Rosary did turn up eventually.

Of course, there's much more to St. Anthony than just running the Lost and Found! :)

St. Anthony of Padua

Updated in 2013 to add Fr. Anthony's very inspirational homily.

The First Saint I Ever Heard Of (reposted)

Slightly adapted from a post in one of my old blogs

Today is the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary.  People love to quote the saints, but we cannot quote St. Joseph. None of his words have been preserved.
I take that back about not being able to quote St. Joseph. We cannot quote his words, but we can, and should, "quote" his devotion to Jesus and Mary.
St. Joseph was the first saint I ever heard of, but that was because of the children's aspirins! LOL!
I like simple, homely {homely as in homelike, not, definitely not, as in unattractive] images. I love to think about St. Joseph walking the floor when the Baby Jesus was teething.

St. Patrick's Day Post (reposted)

 Old Post: Contrary to Any Impression We May Get From The Secular Media----

----This is NOT a picture of St. Patrick!

The Parents of My Patron Saint

What joy, this morning, to see the parents of my Patron Saint canonized!
(Thank God for EWTN.)
And how appropriate that the parents of the Patron Saint of the Missions should
be canonized on World Mission Sunday.

A Book I Never Finished

Less than a year after I joined the Church, I borrowed a book

called Saint-watching, written by Phyllis McGinley, from the public library.  I've just borrowed it again, this time from openlibrary.org, but, once again, I shall NOT be reading this book in its entirety.  I only want to quote a certain passage
accurately.  This book won't appear on my weekly reading list!

I remember being interested in the book, until I came to these
words on page 21:

"Then, as if to display the broad spectrum of sanctity, there are ignorant or clumsy-minded saints like prattling Theresa of Lisieux."

Ignorant? Clumsy-minded?  Actually, she was a subtle genius when it came to spiritual matters. 

I slammed the book shut, and did not read any more, nor have I ever read any other of Phyllis McGinley's works.  Perhaps I've
been missing out; I did enjoy her style until I came to her words
about my Patron Saint!

It may very well be time for me to give this writer another chance, to read one of her books. It won't, however, be a

book about the saints!

The First Saint I Ever Heard Of

Slightly adapted from a post in one of my old blogs

Today is the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary. People love to quote the saints, but we cannot quote St. Joseph. None of his words have been preserved.
I take that back about not being able to quote St. Joseph. We cannot quote his words, but we can, and should, "quote" his devotion to Jesus and Mary.
St. Joseph was the first saint I ever heard of, but that was because of the children's aspirins! LOL!
I like simple, homely {homely as in homelike, not, definitely not, as in unattractive] images. I love to think about St. Joseph walking the floor when the Baby Jesus was teething.

St. Patrick's Day Post

 Old Post: Contrary to Any Impression We May Get From The Secular Media----

----This is NOT a picture of St. Patrick! 

My Patron Saint's Parents Are Going To Be Canonized!!!!

Here is the article.
I'm absolutely ecstatic over this.

Little Things

[Old post, reposted]

I love this quote from my Patron Saint, Therese of Lisieux, whose feast we celebrate today:
"Pick up a pin for the love of God, and you may save a soul."
How right, how wise! We may not be called to do great things, but we can do the little, everyday tasks for the love of God, and then how great, how valuable those little tasks become.
No work is menial if it is done for the love of God.

My Friend Tony (Yearly Repost)

And yep, I mean St. Anthony of Padua, whose Feast is today!

How many times have people prayed some version of the prayer:

"Tony, Tony, come around.

Something's lost and must be found"?

I know St. Anthony is ALWAYS helping me find stuff.

Years ago, when I had just recently converted to Catholicism, I called

Mom at work (It was her usual break time.)

Mom said, "I can't talk right now. We're missing an important file and

we've looked all over for it."

"Okay," I said, "call me back when it turns up."

Well, within five minutes she called me. The file had been found.

"Aren't you going to thank me?" I asked.

"Thank you? What for? You're not even here."

"I know," I said, "but who do you think prayed to St. Anthony?"

More recently, I was chatting with a couple of my online friends, and

one of them was going slightly nuts because she had misplaced something, and couldn't find it anywhere. I said a prayer to St. Anthony, and then typed,

"Try looking again."

She didn't want to, but I persuaded her. And then she typed, in caps

"I FOUND IT!!!!!!"

I wasn't a bit surprised!

Does St. Anthony ALWAYS get lost articles back for me? Well, almost! One morning I couldn't find my Rosary. I looked. I prayed. To my surprise, I still did

not find it. But later that morning, I received a brand-new, beautiful Rosary from a Catholic organization. I'm almost SURE I heard St. Anthony chuckling.

BTW, the lost Rosary did turn up eventually.

Of course, there's much more to St. Anthony than just running the Lost and Found! :)

St. Anthony of Padua

Updated in 2013 to add Fr. Anthony's very inspirational homily.

The First Saint I Ever Head Of (re-post)

Slightly adapted from a post in one of my old blogs

Today is the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary. People love to quote the saints, but we cannot quote St. Joseph. None of his words have been preserved.
I take that back about not being able to quote St. Joseph. We cannot quote his words, but we can, and should, "quote" his devotion to Jesus and Mary.
St. Joseph was the first saint I ever heard of, but that was because of the children's aspirins! LOL!
I like simple, homely {homely as in homelike, not, definitely not, as in unattractive] images. I love to think about St. Joseph walking the floor when the Baby Jesus was teething.

VERY Appropriate Picture (repost)

In honor of St. Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland,
and St. Gertrude of Nivelles, Patron Saint of cats, both of whom are commemorated
today, I'd like to share this picture.

It took me only a few minutes of searching to find this!

St. Patrick's Day Post

Old Post: Contrary to Any Impression We May Get From The Secular Media----

----This is NOT a picture of St. Patrick! 

St. Nicholas (Repost)

I find it wonderfully appropriate that we celebrate the Feast of St. Nicholas, known and loved by so many children as "Santa Claus", during Advent. It is as if the saint were telling us, "Remember why I come with presents on Christmas. It is to celebrate the birth of Our Lord."

Little Things

[Old post, reposted]

I love this quote from my Patron Saint, Therese of Lisieux, whose feast we celebrate today:
"Pick up a pin for the love of God, and you may save a soul."
How right, how wise! We may not be called to do great things,but we can do the little, everyday tasks for the love of God, and then how great, how valuable those little tasks become.
No work is menial if it is done for the love of God.

My Friend Tony (Yearly Repost)

And yep, I mean St. Anthony of Padua, whose Feast is today!

How many times have people prayed some version of the prayer:

"Tony, Tony, come around.

Something's lost and must be found"?

I know St. Anthony is ALWAYS helping me find stuff.

Years ago, when I had just recently converted to Catholicism, I called

Mom at work (It was her usual break time.)

Mom said, "I can't talk right now. We're missing an important file and

we've looked all over for it."

"Okay," I said, "call me back when it turns up."

Well, within five minutes she called me. The file had been found.

"Aren't you going to thank me?" I asked.

"Thank you? What for? You're not even here."

"I know," I said, "but who do you think prayed to St. Anthony?"

More recently, I was chatting with a couple of my online friends, and

one of them was going slightly nuts because she had misplaced something, and couldn't find it anywhere. I said a prayer to St. Anthony, and then typed,

"Try looking again."

She didn't want to, but I persuaded her. And then she typed, in caps

"I FOUND IT!!!!!!"

I wasn't a bit surprised!

Does St. Anthony ALWAYS get lost articles back for me? Well, almost! One morning I couldn't find my Rosary. I looked. I prayed. To my surprise, I still did

not find it. But later that morning, I received a brand-new, beautiful Rosary from a Catholic organization. I'm almost SURE I heard St. Anthony chuckling.

BTW, the lost Rosary did turn up eventually.

Of course, there's much more to St. Anthony than just running the Lost and Found! :)

St. Anthony of Padua

Updated in 2013 to add Fr. Anthony's very inspirational homily.

The First Saint I Ever Heard of (Reposted)

The following post makes its annual appearance in this blog.

Slightly adapted from a post in one of my old blogs.

Today is the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary. People love to quote the saints, but we cannot quote St. Joseph. None of his words have been preserved.
I take that back about not being able to quote St. Joseph. We cannot quote his words, but we can, and should, "quote" his devotion to Jesus and Mary.
St. Joseph was the first saint I ever heard of, but that was because of the children's aspirins! LOL!
I like simple, homely {homely as in homelike, not, definitely not, as in  unattractive] images. I love to think about St. Joseph walking the floor when the Baby Jesus was teething.