Embracing Lent

Today is better.  No ugliness, no fighting, no ..... feeling that the devil is living in my home.  I sprinkled holy water and blessed salt and prayed through a certain section of the house, and begged prayers from one and all.  To say that is has helped is an understatement.   Today I am doing it again, and this time I'm getting the entire house.   I've also taken to adding blessed salt (just a pinch) to all of our food, and a drop of holy water to each pitcher of tea or whatever drink I make.   The most problematic part of the house is void of a crucifix... that will be changing asap.  I had a Medjugorje holy water font in there before, but mysteriously, it "broke".  Hmmm.  I will get small crucifixes, get them blessed, and am putting them WAY UP HIGH over the door.   I aim to do that to every door of the house.  Including our front and back doors.  Which leads me to the question, do I put them up on the inside over the door, or outside, over the door?  I'm a bit confuddled on that point.

 Our parish is having masses at 7:15 and at noon, with confessions before each.   I may actually try to make that early one.  (which will truly be an act of God if I can make it there that early!)

So today I did a bit of shopping...  picking up some Lent staples, such as canned tuna,  and ingredients for a few, easy to prepare meatless comfort food meals that don't include beans.  (I have a shelf full of beans already!)  With my non-Catholic husband, who dutifully is meatless with us, I try to make things he likes so it is easier on him.   

So today I get out my purple candle holder... dusting off and redecorating my little alter table, (an old pie safe).   Lent, lent, bring on Lent!!  How I cannot wait!!  The ashes, the incense, the immersion in prayers and readings... the fasting and abstinence... the smallness of us and the bigness of God.   I feel I must make haste... and clean like Jesus is coming over (physically) for a visit!   I want to put away the distractions... but can I do it?  Will I make an effort to do this every day?  Will it last?  

I have been such a fickle Catholic... I've been hit and miss at mass for about a year now... some days I flat out did not want to go... and then at the end of the day, I felt a sadness that I didn't.  Some days I just felt too overwhelmed or tired or drained to go... it's been a struggle... and I know that it was the devil giving me excuses in my ear to use and to say, and reminding me of sadness and frailties and so forth.  Old Smut Face has been busy.  And I want, with all of my heart, to TOTALLY tick him off. :)   I think embracing Lent is a good place to start.

Being Prepared.. Spiritually

End Times.  Tribulation.  Three Days of Darkness.

*gulp*

I was raised a Southern Baptist so it's in my DNA to be scared of 'The Tribulation' which I think is the baptist version of the 3 Days of Darkness.  What's in a name? :)  It's still scary to think about!  Regardless of what flavor of Christian you are, we all agree that the End Times are going to get QUITE ugly.

Doing lots of online reading...I didn't know about blacking out the windows.  You know, (not that I am an authority by any stretch of the imagination... this is only my opinion), but I believe God will provide for us whether we are ready for the 3DOD//Tribulation or not.   God is loving and merciful.  And as long as we love and serve Him and are in a state of Grace then we've really nothing to fear anyway, you know?  :)   Though I do think we should be prepared.  

I am wondering what the official church teaching is on this.   I don't believe that God wants us to freak out and worry.  We should continue going to mass and frequent confession and love and serve Him as He wants us to.   We are encouraged to have home shrines, blessed candles, have our homes blessed, and use Sacramentals, as that's what they are for is to help us.    They are little gifts to us from God.  Not good luck charms as the power is from God and not the items.  What comes to mind is what the priest says in mass...  

"Deliver us, O Lord, from every evil and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of Our Savior, Jesus Christ."

 Isn't that what we 'should' be doing?  Waiting in joyful hope? :)

Sacramentals are part of our armor to keep evil away from us and out of our homes.  Stuff we should have on hand anyway. :)   

A biggie that everyone needs.. Blessed salt..  get several boxes of it... add a pinch to things you cook.  Not for seasoning but for the blessing that is in it.  I do it for everything I cook here.  Whomever eats your prepared food will be getting blessed and not even realizing it.  Blessed salt and holy water are powerful Sacramentals!!  When your difficult child (teenager) is not at home, go in there and spritz their bedroom with Holy Water and pray out loud... I have done this several times myself, in our home.  Hubby and I rarely argue, but when we do, I use the holy water.. and bless the house and sprinkle the blessed salt and pray through the whole house.  You will be surprised at the difference it will make.

I have a pie safe I use as our home shrine.  One of the reason my pie safe works well as a shrine table is I can store my candles and incense and matches and everything else inside of it.  You can find them used... we got ours free.  Yes you can use any table surface but you need a place to store your things so they'll be safe and not broken or messed up.  And where you can easily find them when you want them. 

My pie safe (shrine table) contains blessed candles, blessed salt, holy water, blessed medals, and so on.   As I pick them up, I get blessed medals and prayer cards and try to get them all blessed.  I keep all blessed things together.  When I find copies of the Catholic bible or the Catechism I pick them up... thrift stores are good.. and I want to make sure I have them for every member of the family and then pick up more as I can for loved ones and friends.   In the world we live in, we need to be "armed"!!   Rosaries, rosaries, rosaries!!!  Even the "cheapie" ones... better than nothing!!  Get them blessed and have them put up to give to someone who has nothing and will be grateful to have it in their hands.  I do believe the day will come we will not be able to buy catechisms anymore...  the country is already so far from God...  just frightening.  We need to be ready!  So even those free little prayer cards and stuff you get in the mail... save those.  St Benedict medals, St Michael the Archangel medals, and The Miraculous Medal... and most of all the rosary.  Even the little cheapie ones that are like .50c are powerful.. have them blessed and keep them on hand!  OH!!  Brown scapulars!!!!

If you have a Mary Garden or such...  roses or plants that you've planted in Mary's honor, or if you have existing plants and wish to use them to honor her,...  you can use cut flowers and dry the petals to make potpourri.. Roses, lavender, garden sage, cedar, (those are the ones I know about) can all be used.  Oh and I think marigolds and violets.  Dry them as potpourri, and then if you want to burn them like as an incense you can.  I use a large shell but you can use any heat proof dish... even a Terra cotta pot... and put about an inch of sand in the bottom and then one of those lighting charcoals specially made for incense, not the kind you grill with. Get it lit and when it's going good you can add your dried flowers and leaves and it makes a lovely natural incense.  :)   Another thing... when you prune roses... take all of it... flowers, stalks, leaves.. everything... and put into a big pot with water and simmer it for hours... make your own rose water.  Pour into bottles and you can have it blessed it you want to, or you can use a little of it when you rinse your hair. :)  It smells good!!  If you have it blessed and use a little in your hair then it's like a little blessing for you. :)

As far as some of the herbs mentioned in 3DOD sites..... I think it makes sense to just grow it yourself.  You can dry it and store it.  Seep it in blessed oils.  Put into your dehydrator.  Stuff like that.   When you have plenty and have "enough to share" you can use in teas, tinctures, oils, or with your dried potpourri items you use as "homemade incense" for prayer. :)  Again, just my ideas and thoughts.

So, if I am so "trusting" in God, then 'why' prepare?  People have harvested and stored food since the beginning of time, in preparation for winter, hard times, etc.  Where we live, we prepare for hurricanes.  I don't know if a hurricane will hit us or not for that season.. but I will have food and water stored just in case for my family.  But not only physical needs should be met.  More than anything, we need to be concerned for our Spiritual needs.  How do YOU prepare for your family?  I'd love to hear any ideas or thoughts. :)

+JMJ+

My Catholic Arsenal

My Catholic Arsenal I am blogging about this, (and I don't know how long it's going to be), for a friend of mine who shall remain anonymous in this blog for her privacy.   She is a recent convert, and with very deep faith.  God has His hand on her.  What she has discovered, as I did since I'm also a convert, is NO ONE learns everything in RCIA.  Well.  Maybe if Padre Pio taught your RCIA.   Haha.. but for most of us, it seems, as thorough as they try to be, there is so much information they cannot possibly cover everything.  So they teach the "meat" of it, (sorry to my vegetarian/vegan friends), because as we all know, you have to learn to crawl before you can walk. I attended RCIA when I was in my early twenties.  I did learn a lot from Father who taught the class.  But even as holy, kind, and deeply committed as he was, a lot of things I didn't learn.  So, (drum roll please), this is my little "101" on what I have and what I do and why.  Just things I have learned that I 'didn't' learn in RCIA.  This is all for my dear friend, but anyone who can glean from it, or heck, add to it, please feel free to be my guest. :) Number one, I believe a Catholic needs a bible, a copy of the Catechism, and a rosary.  When I went through RCIA, we were recommended to the The New American Bible, but I noticed that Father used and preferred for himself The New Jerusalem Bible.   So that's what I have.  Okay, well, actually I have both.  But the New Jerusalem is my favorite.    Any Catholic bible will do.  If in doubt, do an internet search, or talk with your priest and find out what he recommends.    Next on the list is a good copy of The Catechism of the Catholic Church.  You can get it in hard back or paper back.  Until you get one, you can find it online at http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm, and I'd bet the family farm they have apps you can get on your phone.   So, why do you need a Catechism?  Because it's a basic "rule book", so to speak.  Any question you have can be looked up and answered.  You can see what the Church's stance is on anything.   Not to mention, it helps you learn your faith.  I cannot recommend it enough.   Some of them can be pricey.  I bought mine at a thrift store.   Look around.  You'll find them.      Lastly, but most certainly not least, a rosary.  Make sure, please, that it's a Catholic rosary, with 60 beads.  Please get it blessed.  Any priest will be happy to bless your rosary, or anything else, if you ask him. Other things:  I have in my home a "pie safe" cabinet, which is basically a table that opens up like a cupboard in the front with shelves inside.   You can start small... such as a paper holy picture and a small candle.  I put mine on my pie safe table, and thus started my little table shrine.  My little place to keep holy things.   I've added to it... I bought a table top crucifix, (which I had blessed) a couple of very small "dollar store" statues, (figurines, really, also I got blessed), and put them on top with a candle holder.  Inside I keep my stuff.  Candles, candle holders, blessed salt, holy water, blessed oil, and more.  When I buy a box of salt, a box of tea lite candles (or votives), I take it in and ask the priest to bless it for me.  If the smoke of a candle is carrying my prayers to Heaven, I'd prefer that the candle be blessed.  Also, since the Church has a yearly Candle-mas service to bless all candles, I can't possibly be the only nut who does this.  Hahaha.   So I know that any time I light a candle in prayer, I'm doing so on a blessed candle.   I also buy the candles from church...  They're $3 each, and so I can buy 3 or 4 and they last a while.  And.. I get them blessed.  In our parish bookstore are the glass candle holders identical to the ones they use on the Church alter.  This is important!   A lot of candle holders, YES, even "safe" ones that you buy from the store, will sometimes burst.   Church candle holders are specially made for candles to burn for hours at a time.   They certainly aren't going to risk burning down the Church, so I feel quite safe using those same candle holders in my home.   Bear in mind, it *is* a candle, and accidents do happen.  So please use safety precautions as you would with any other candle.   WHILE I'm on the subject of candles... do NOT buy those crazy grocery store candles with the Saints on them.  Apparently a good many of them are used in Santeria which is voodoo and a lot of their candles look like ours.  It's hard to tell the difference sometimes, so my best advice is DON'T RISK IT and just get the ones from Church.. you know they're not going to sell you anything crazy.   Better safe than sorry.     I have been told by different folks that you ought to have, (and no, I don't yet but I plan to), two pure beeswax candles (blessed) for emergencies.  Keep them in a brown paper bag in the refrigerator and have them literally for emergencies.   I admit readily I am a little uneducated on this, and so perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned it.  But, it was mentioned to me, and so I'm just sharing the info.  Once again, I say, better safe than sorry.  Sometimes all the details don't really matter when good old fashioned faith is more than enough. :) Blessed salt.  You can buy any box of regular table salt from the grocery.  Take it, still sealed, to your priest.  He will bless it as usual, but then he will open up your salt and pray the exorcism prayer over it.   He will sprinkle a little out and make the Sign of the Cross.  Then you have yourself a nice box full of blessed salt.   I will tell you now.. go ahead and take 2 or 3 boxes or salt....  Father will NOT think you're nuts.  And that way you only have to bug him once, and you have enough blessed salt to last a pretty long time.   So, what do you do with blessed salt?  Well, it's a sacramental.   Walk the perimeter of your property, pray for protection for your home and sprinkle a little as you walk and pray.  Walk through your home and pray protection for your home, sprinkling the blessed salt across thresholds... and anywhere you think you'd benefit.  It's not a 'good luck charm'.  It's a sacramental and a matter of faith.   You can sprinkle a few grains in your car, add a pinch to the pot when you're cooking supper, toss a small pinch in front of an abortion clinic as you pass by, and the list goes on.    I do not put it into a salt shaker, but I will not hesitate to add a pinch to a pot of soup, (NOT for seasoning.. for blessing!) and if you can manage it, add a pinch especially to the food of a person who is (such as an ornery teenager), in need of a blessing! :) Holy Water and Blessed Oil.  Okay.  You can take any bottle with a tight fitting lid and use it to store holy water.  Take your clean, empty bottle to the Church and ask where you may fill your bottle.  I have a few plastic holy water bottles I've bought at our parish bookstore, and I keep them filled.  I usually fill a couple of small bottles, that way I always have a full one when one gets empty.    So, what do I do with holy water?  Bless yourself.   Get a holy water font and put it by your front door, and bless yourself every time you go to walk out that door.   And bless yourself again when you come in..  your home is the Domestic Church.  We need all the protection we can get!  Bless yourself, bless your children, bless your dog.   When nerves are frazzled or there's been arguing, spritz holy water into the air.  Cleanse your home.  I've been known to add a drop or two to a a pitcher of iced tea or Crystal Light... an added blessing!!  If you are ill, you can take a tiny sip of the holy water too. Blessed oil.   When you're at the store buying your salt, pick up a bottle of 100% pure olive oil.  (I buy extra Virgin), and have it blessed too.  Use it like you would holy water.  Use it to bless your loved ones, and to bless yourself.  You can also use a small amount on a wound, and it will help heal it.  Yes I've done this, and YES it did work!!   Okay folks, it's late.  I will do a "part 2" on this later. :)   Good night and God Bless!!  +JMJ+