by Barbara | Sep 24, 2023
One of the many favorite and visually impactful events is the candlelight rosary procession that happens every night at Lourdes. Thousands and even ten thousands all process around the grounds saying the rosary. Every language can be heard but together after every...
by Barbara | Sep 23, 2023
Forty years ago, we came to Lourdes for the first time. We were living in England and Mark was flying for the U.S. Air Force serving at RAF Upper Heyford. We had lost our first child to miscarriage three years prior while living in South Korea. Adding heartbreak to...
by Barbara | Sep 22, 2023
Here we find the story of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is here where Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. As a child she dedicated herself to the Blessed Virgin. As she grew older, her mother encouraged her to be more social hoping she would...
by Barbara | Sep 21, 2023
This beautiful Gothic style church on the outskirts of Normandy is about 93 miles west of Paris. It is the sole shrine in the world dedicated to praying for the dead. Fr. Paul Joseph Buguet (1843-1918), a humble rural parish priest, is the founder of the shrine...
by Barbara | Sep 20, 2023
This is one of France's most spectacular sites. Mont St. Michel lies one kilometer out to sea off the Normandy coast of northern France. This Benedictine Abbey is perched on a rocky inlet. The tides move over 45 feet throughout a 24-hour period. Today it felt like we...
by Barbara | Sep 19, 2023
We continued north today to the Convent of Carmel where Therese entered religious life at fifteen years old. We viewed some of Therese's personal items and toured the family home with many original items still in place. St. Therese's body was not incorrupt. She was 24...
by Barbara | Sep 18, 2023
As we departed the busyness of Paris we stopped by for a few quick pictures at the Eiffel Tower. This iconic reminder of France was constructed for the 1889 Exposition Universelle. This date also marked the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Some thought it...
by Barbara | Sep 17, 2023
Thanks for joining us on this pilgrimage in France to some of the most beautiful and holy sites. Today we arrived on the Rue de Bac, to visit the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal. It is here that we see the incorrupt body of St Catherine Laboure. You can read more about...
by Barbara | Sep 8, 2023
I love words! Apart from monotonous whining or mundane dribble, words excite me. I love words so much that when discipling our kids as teens I would put them into a coma as I worded them to death about the dangers of their actions. Isn't it exciting when you...
by Barbara | Aug 29, 2023
Chocolate is my go-to flavor when eradicating my craving for something sweet. Not just any chocolate suffices, as I’ve spent a lifetime honing what gratifies. It’s easy to recognize a counterfeit when I’ve tasted the real deal. Humans have favorite foods, clothes,...
by Barbara | Aug 23, 2023
We can all relate to Jonah at times. We want people to get what is coming to them, good or bad- mostly bad- especially if they have hurt us. In this case, Jonah wanted Nineveh to die for the ill-treatment of his people. We're told in Scripture that "Jonah...
by Barbara | Jul 2, 2023
We planned a mini staycation with several of our kids who lived locally. It seemed reasonable when we made the reservations months earlier. But that was before the out-of-state baptism was scheduled, and one week later, a triple baptism which included hosting the...
by Barbara | Jun 12, 2023
Novena Pray always in readiness to surrender, and you will receive from it great peace and great rewards, even when I confer on you the grace of immolation, of repentance and of love. Then what does suffering matter? It seems impossible to you. Close your eyes and say...
by Barbara | Jun 11, 2023
Close your eyes and let yourself be carried away on the flowing current of my grace; close your eyes and do not think of the present, turning your thoughts away from the future just as you would from temptation. Repose in me, believing in my goodness, and I promise...
by Barbara | Jun 10, 2023
Day 7 NovenaI perform miracles in proportion to your full surrender to me and to your not thinking of yourselves. I sow treasure troves of graces when you are in the deepest poverty. No person of reason, no thinker, has ever performed miracles, not even among the...
by Barbara | Jun 9, 2023
Novena You are sleepless; you want to judge everything, direct everything and see to everything and you surrender to human strength, or worse – to men themselves, trusting in their intervention, – this is what hinders my words and my views. Oh how much I wish from you...
by Barbara | Jun 8, 2023
NovenaAnd when I must lead you on a path different from the one you see, I will prepare you; I will carry you in my arms; I will let you find yourself, like children who have fallen asleep in their mother’s arms, on the other bank of the river. What troubles you and...
by Barbara | Jun 7, 2023
NovenaYou see evil growing instead of weakening? Do not worry. Close your eyes and say to me with faith: “Thy will be done, You take care of it”. I say to you that I will take care of it, and that I will intervene as does a doctor and I will accomplish miracles when...
by Barbara | Jun 6, 2023
Novena How many things I do when the soul, in so much spiritual and material need, turns to me, looks at me and says to me; “You take care of it”, then closes its eyes and rests. In pain you pray for me to act, but that I act in the way you want. You do not turn to...
by Barbara | Jun 5, 2023
Novena: Surrender to me does not mean to fret, to be upset, or to lose hope, nor does it mean offering to me a worried prayer asking me to follow you and change your worry into prayer. It is against this surrender, deeply against it, to worry, to be nervous and to...
by Barbara | Jun 4, 2023
Thank you for joining me in praying the Surrender Novena. Fr Dolindo Ruotolo, Spiritual Director to Padre Pio, received this novena from Christ Jesus. As we pray this novena each day, imagine Jesus saying these words to you personally. Prayerfully linger over each...