Morning Rose Prayer Gardens
The tomatoes are ripening, the corn is coming in, and bushels of cucumbers stay cool in the shade. The season of abundance has begun…and even the finches take part. Read more
The tomatoes are ripening, the corn is coming in, and bushels of cucumbers stay cool in the shade. The season of abundance has begun…and even the finches take part. Read more
These past two weeks have been filled with joy, and some powerful sufferings. In the past three days alone I have come to know of a friend facing infertility, another’s crippling physical pain, and a woman with emotional challenges so deep that I fear for her soul. We all face suffering–physical, emotional, or spiritual. It is always personal…even when we anguish over the sufferings of another. And it always changes us. As Blessed Pope John Paul II wrote in his Apostolic Letter... Read more
The Catholic Writers Guild conference last week was a huge success. This was our fifth year and we have doubled in attendance. My job at the conferences was volunteer coordinator. This year was particularly challenging: I had put my back out days before, then three volunteers quit due to family emergencies or illness. I had no idea what I was in for but believed it wasn’t going to be good. My prayers (and those of Ann Margaret Lewis) stormed the... Read more
Mary, Mother of the Church and Mother of God, to you we turn. With your “yes” you have opened the door to the presence of Christ in the world, in history and in souls, receiving in humble silence and total submission the appeal of the Most High. Grant that many men and women may know and hear, even today, the inviting voice of your Son: “Follow Me.” Stretch out your motherly hand over all missionaries scattered throughout the world, over... Read more
Dear Lord, we pray that the Blessed Mother wrap her mantle around priests and through her intercession strengthen them for their ministry. We pray that Mary will guide priests to follow her own words, “Do whatever He tells you.” May priests have the heart of St. Joseph, Mary’s most chaste spouse. May the Blessed Mother’s own pierced heart inspire them to embrace all who suffer at the foot of the cross. May priests be holy, filled with the fire of your... Read more
Those of you who have been following my blog know that it has been a challenge this season tearing out my gardens that I have lovingly attended to for over twenty-five years. What remains are flowering shrubs, ornamental trees, and lots of bare soil needing mulch. Not so long ago problems with my back laid me low. When I was finally up and able I found an unexpected garden gift. A lovely ripe tomato was waiting for me just outside... Read more
O Jesus, our great High Priest, Hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priests. Give them a deep faith, a bright and firm hope, and a burning love which will ever increase in the course of their priestly lives. In their loneliness, comfort them In their sorrows, strengthen them In their frustrations, point out to them that it is through suffering that the soul is purified, and show them that they are needed by the Church, they are needed by souls, they are needed for the work of redemption. O loving Mother... Read more
Of what remains in my gardens, flowering shrubs and ornamental trees, this blue Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus syriacus ‘Blue Bird’, is still my favorite. Makes for a nice view against the Bottlebrush Buckeye, Aesculus parviflora var. Serotina I was given a special gift in the garden this week…but that on Friday’s blog. (Images by Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB. All rights reserved.) Read more
The following quote just about sums up who I am as I strive toward my eternity; to be centered in God as I experience Him in His creations and to be a small light that offers the same to others. (Its from my first book.) We hunger to return to our place of origin with God, back to the garden, to rediscover that spiritual dimension of centering peace. I will be at the Catholic Writers Guild conference that is part... Read more
On the cover of the 2012 July issue of Magnificat is a painting of Anne and Joachim, Mary’s parents. In looking at this image it occurred to me that there may have been a lot of doubts in this nuclear family. The elderly Anne and Joachim were childless. Legend tells us that on one particular day the sadness of this situation overwhelmed Joachim. He left the temple and set off to the mountains to be alone with God. He wandered... Read more
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