Starting Seeds Part 2: Practical Gardening Series

In my February 22nd column, Starting Seeds Indoors Part 1, I talked about how to begin growing seeds indoors. I mentioned timing, containers and potting mix, light, temperature and watering. Let’s continue with the care of seedlings after germination has taken place and the first two leaves, called cotyledons, have emerged. Your plastic covering is now removed from the trays. (If you direct seeded singly in separate peat pots you have already accomplished the following step and can skip the next two paragraphs.) When... Read more

Thursday’s Prayer for Priests

March 7, 2013 By Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB

O Jesus, Eternal Priest, keep your priests within the shelter of your Most Sacred Heart, where none can touch them. Keep unstained their anointed hands, which daily touch your Sacred Body. Keep unsullied their lips daily tinged with your Precious Blood. Keep pure and unworldly their hearts, sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood. Let your Holy Love surround and protect them from the world’s contagion. Bless their labors with abundant fruit, and may the souls to whom they... Read more

Full Moon Crosses

March 1, 2013 By Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB

I looked in awe through the low double-hung window at a winter’s full moon. I had gone halfway up the stairs and stopped; midway offers a direct view of the sky. This moon appears brighter with a crisper white light. The intensity of its glow dims the view of nearby stars. As I was looking out the west window I noticed my long-haired silver cat, Meadow, had come down to me and back up twice as if trying to move... Read more

Thursday’s Prayer for Priests

February 28, 2013 By Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB

O Jesus, Eternal Pontiff, Good Shepherd and Fountain of life, who by the special goodness of your Most Sweet Heart, have given us priests to fulfill in us the designs of sanctification which your grace inspires in our hearts, we ask you: come to their aid with the assistance of your mercy. O Jesus, may they have in their labors a lively faith; in trials an unwavering trust; in their decisions a burning charity. Grant that your Word, the irradiation... Read more

Starting Seeds Indoors, Part 1: Practical Gardening Series

February 22, 2013 By Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB

Few things produce more hope in the first few hours than a diet and starting seeds. When considering growing your own seeds, remember that almost all seeds will germinate; it’s the growing-on that challenges. Home grown seedlings will be weaker and more spindly than commercially grown ones, and more prone to fungal diseases like dampening off. As homeowners we do not have access to the commercial chemicals used to make these plants sturdy and vigorous. So if you want only... Read more

Thursday’s Prayer for Priests

February 21, 2013 By Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB

Most gracious Heavenly Father, We thank you for our faithful priests and bishops, whose spiritual fatherhood and example of fidelity, self-sacrifice, and devotion is so vital to the faith of your people. May our spiritual fathers be guided by the examples of Saints Peter and Paul, all the Apostles and their saintly successors. Give them valiant faith in the face of confusion and conflict, hope in time of trouble and sorrow, and steadfast love for you, for their families, and... Read more

Asian Madonna

February 16, 2013 By Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB

The Blessed Mother statue is only twelve inches tall. Finding a place to store it for Lent shouldn’t have been that hard. At a Catholic Writers Guild Conference I’d bought this smaller version of the original from the Korean woman who was the sculptor. The soft light from the candles in my prayer space enhanced the artist’s design. The hands of Mother Mary are against her chest, tipped back in a way that gives the impression of an opening lotus... Read more

Fasting From, Turn to Virtue

February 8, 2013 By Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB

Last year for Lent, starting on Ash Wednesday, I began a series of weekly columns about fasting from certain attitudes and striving to become more virtuous. A few of the columns that were written made their way into my new book Cultivating God’s Garden through Lent. The list of those fourteen “Fasting From” reflections became popular, and many friends said they had printed them out and hung them in work spaces. It seems they bear repeating. So, here is an excerpt... Read more

A Writer’s Prayer

February 5, 2013 By Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB

Heavenly Father, Help me to trust that the words you encourage me to write meet the needs of those you guide to read them. Let me continue to delight in the beautiful words written by others and not despair in the simplicity of my own. Help me remember always to thank them and encourage them in their work. Guide my thoughts and my hands to express your Holy Word in our lives. Allow me to follow your will, to trust your... Read more

Letting Go

February 1, 2013 By Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB

When my friend, Linda, and I bought this house twenty-six years ago we had to literally dig out the basement with coal shovels. It looked like a hoarder lived downstairs. With the help of Linda’s family the basement was eventually cleared, scrubbed and white-washed. This January there was extensive (and expensive) work done in our unfinished basement. The ducts had to be cleaned, patched and insulated. The furnace too had to be repaired. Then there were the five slow leaking water lines... Read more