Prayer, coping and contemplation among the living things
Sharing flowers from your garden is a joy for both you and the recipient. Here’s a handy way to transport those posies using a coffee bag! 1. Rinse well an emptied coffee bag. No need to use soap, coffee oils won’t hurt a thing. 2. That little vacuum button on the front? Sometimes they aren’t [Read More...]
Look kindly Lord, on your priests, religious, and laymen who left all to witness to your word and your love. Be to each one of them a “…powerful protector and their strong support, their shade from the midday sun, their shelter from the desert wind, a guard against stumbling, an assurance against a fall…” (Ecc [Read More...]
Mass was at a church that had been reclassified, rather, to use the Bishop’s words, “suppressed” as an Oratory. After a priest created a rift in the faithful the number of parishioners had dropped. The decline in the worshipping community never regained its former attendance. I sat back and lifted the kneeler having offered the [Read More...]
Lord Jesus Christ, watch over your missionary Sisters and Nuns who leave everything to give testimony to your word and your love. In difficult moments, sustain their energies, comfort their hearts, and crown their work with spiritual achievements. Let the image of you crucified on the Cross, which accompanies them throughout life, speak to them of [Read More...]
I’ve never been a mother, never had the courage for it. And courage is what it takes to bury an infant. The NICU Helping Hands program offers this amazing gift: Angel Gown Program began in 2013 because we recognized the overwhelming need to support families who lost a baby while in the hospital. Our Angel Gown [Read More...]
This prayer appeared in a similar version for Sisters and Nuns on Tuesday: St. Michael the Archangel, defend and protect our Priests and monks in this time of great danger in Iraq. As they are persecuted for their faith, and in their fleeing from Islamic extremist, keep anger and hatred from damaging their souls. Help them [Read More...]
For those of us called to an anchoritic life, the silence of solitude teaches interior repose and perseverance in prayer, turning towards the Spirit within as the sunflower turns towards and follows the sun. The perspective and peace brought of silence is, rarely, an opened parcel in daily life. We twirl about stepping over it, [Read More...]
St. Michael the Archangel, defend and protect our Sisters and Nuns in this time of great danger in Iraq. As they are persecuted for their faith, and in their fleeing from Islamic extremist, keep anger and hatred from damaging their souls. Help them to be a candle in this chaotic night of oppression that they [Read More...]
I had a small business called Rustic Rosaries and for several years strung beaded rosaries for use in nature. They were sturdy rosaries that could get dirty, and traveled well in garden aprons, beach bags, tackle and tool boxes. When the cost for gold and silver rose above what I could afford for crucifixes, I [Read More...]
Like most gardeners I like a lot of flowers all season. If you’re not a fan of annuals, you probably search for the few perennials that bloom all summer. You can also extend the bloom period of perennials by deadheading. Deadheading is the maintenance practice of removing spent flowers. By deadheading you keep the plants [Read More...]
Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB is an Advanced Master Gardener with over thirty-five years experience in the green industry and leads workshop and retreats. She is the coordinator emeritus of the St. Francis Retreat Center Garden Society, a monthly columnist at CatholicMom.com and blogs about gardening and spirituality at Patheos.com. 
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