Day 28: Thanksgiving

I have reached the halfway point in the 54 day novena. No longer will I pray the petition prayer; now, I turn toward Thanksgiving.


For anyone who may be saying this novena, below is a link to the novena and the Thanksgiving Prayer as well.

In Thanksgiving

Hail, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, my Mother Mary,

hail! At thy feet I gratefully kneel to offer thee a Crown of

Roses snow white buds to remind thee of thy joys each bud

recalling to thee a holy mystery; each ten bound together

with my petition for a particular grace. O Holy Queen,

Dispenser of God's graces. and Mother of all who invoke

thee! thou canst not look upon my gift and fail to see its

binding. As thou receivest my gift, so wilt thou receive my

thanksgiving; from thy bounty thou hast given me the favor

I so earnestly and trustingly sought. I despaired not of what

I asked of thee, and thou hast truly shown thyself my

Mother.

I felt slightly guilty about "loading up" on the petition; one of the petitions was answered about two weeks ago. In a wonderful way....

The honest and intellectual question I have is this: can I have enough trust to still be thankful even if all the petitions are not answered the way I hope they should be?

 I know in my heart that if they are not,

there is still a Divine Plan

to the whole answer.

Day 26: Quieting the Mind

The rosary/novena has become part of my morning ritual.

Prayer is like exercise, study or any other task which we decide is or is not important in our daily routine.

Amazing what happens when we make something a priority.

While I am in what I consider frequent dialogue with God throughout every day, in quiet moments at home or fleeting moments at work, I realize that the rosary is a different kind of prayer. It is a type of meditation in which I am able to quiet my mind.

When all the chatter dies down, it is simply me, Mary, and Jesus. The Mother and The Son. Moments of clarity arise. I am led to deeper understanding.

There is value in quieting the mind. As TERESA OF AVILA said in The Interior Castle:

When I think of myself

my mind cannot soar to higher things

but is like a bird with broken wings.

When we are freed from the limitations of ourselves, we can soar into Higher Realms.

Day 24: Calm Amidst Chaos

I am doing the rosary this morning just after having my computer almost crash, and when I went through the recovery process, I found that I lost most of my saved documents. My mind is swirling.

I am wondering if the tax guy can send through the secure server the 36 page tax document I downloaded just a few days ago....while the flash drive was plugged in, I had not saved the tax document onto it!

So....as I am trying to concentrate on the Glorious Mysteries, I am redirecting my mind every Hail Mary or so.

By the 4th decade, though, I settle into a rhythmn and realize something new. Mary and the apostles were surrounded by chaos as they saw the Savior tortured and put to death, as they realized that He, indeed, was resurrected... and then they answered His call to spread The Word in a hostile environment.

Wow. My chaos is nothing.

If they can move through that chaos, I can move through mine.

Hail, holy queen,

Mother of Mercy...

Day 18 - Plugging Along

Hi, there,
Just a note to say I'm still on the Novena. Went through a short trip and a bit of sickness, but during it all, Mother Mary's been with me. Day 18 and moving forward.

Peace and blessings to all of you today.
Tre

Day 13

Finding of the Christ Child in the Temple

I imagine Mary and Joseph looking for Jesus in the temple. Can you imagine not having Amber Alert? Traveling a whole day back on a donkey to find out where your child is? Looking for 2 more days to find him without knowing if he was alive, dead or in trouble?

Mary knew what Christ's role would be. I can't imagine her terror. Her later relief.

She kept this all in her heart. It wasn't time for others to know. What a huge secret to keep.

I admire Mary and Joseph so much. They accepted a task none of us could handle.

Day 12: Glorious

As I ponder how surprised the guards were when they rolled back the stone of the grave of Jesus to find him gone, as I ponder the bewilderment of the holy women who come to annoint him to find an empty grave....

what we plan isn't always The Plan! Is it??

We may think we know what we need in and from our lives. With whom we live our lives. How we live our lives.

Ever had a wrench thrown in the plans?

Even our best laid plans for ourself crumble in the face of the Divine and Cosmic Plan.

There is a plan for each of us for which we have no comprehension.

It's not up to us;  it is up to the One.

Day 11: A Real Rosary

Last night, I was finishing up the work day when Marnee walked in to the rehab department. She walked up beside me and handed me a small white envelope.

It was stuffed.

On the outside back of the envelope she had hand written a beautiful saying by Kahlil Gibran, one of my favorite poets.

"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much what life brings to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens."

Inside this beautiful woman has written a card to me.

Dear Tre,

You are a beautiful young lady.

A gift from God

to so many of us

who need you.

Your smile

warms everyone's heart

and your expressions of confidence

and words of encouragement

are a blessing to this world - -

Thank you, thank you -

May God bless you

with peace of heart

and mind

and love of all -

Your grateful patient,

Inside was a beautiful olivewood rosary made in Jerusalem.

I used the rosary this morning for the Sorrowful Mysteries.

It is the perfect weight under my fingers. It is the perfect shape.

I may be the therapist and Marnee the patient, but she is the teacher, and I the lucky recipient of her spiritual wisdom and faith.