Papa Benedict on Purity

I just found this wonderful quote from World Youth Day 2008:

"Authentic love is obviously something good. Without it, life would hardly be worth living. It fulfils our deepest need, and when we love, we become most fully ourselves, most fully human. But how easily it can be made into a false god! People often think they are being loving when actually they are being possessive or manipulative. People sometimes treat others as objects to satisfy their own needs rather than as persons to be loved and cherished. How easy it is to be deceived by the many voices in our society that advocate a permissive approach to sexuality, without regard for modesty, self-respect or the moral values that bring quality to human relationships! This is worship of a false god. Instead of bringing life, it brings death."

I need your help!

I'm right now working hard to complete a newly updated version of my booklet formerly called The Young Woman's Modesty Resource Guide (it will have a new name!). I'm revamping the layout for a crisp, sleeker presentation, and also doing a bit of expansion. That's where you come in.

Ladies: Do you have a favorite modesty website to share — either a source for purchasing apparel, or for going deeper into this subject? Are you willing to write a brief personal testimony about your modesty journey, why this virtue is important to you, or an experience or change of heart that you've had?

Gentlemen: Why is modesty important to you as a Christian man? Does it help you respect and reverence women? How does a modest gal help you in the quest for purity? How do you appreciate the girls and women in your life who seek to model modesty?

I'm calling on everyone: If you are a blog "lurker" who visits here and never speaks up, please do now. Your quotes will help me add valuable insight to this new print booklet, and/or to expansions on my website (which is another project on the burner). Now's your chance to speak out on this relevant topic! Only first names and ages will be published. You don't have to write a ton — anything from one sentence to a few paragraphs is perfect.

You can email your responses to me at lily maiden @ sbc global . net (remove all spaces). The only thing is that I need you to act fast. :) This edition of the booklet will be going to the printer within the next 2-3 days. So if you can send me something before then, that will be terrific. If you need more time, just send it as soon as you can, because it can still be helpful for future printings and/or the website. Please remember to include your age.

Quotes from Christian/Catholic men are always especially powerful. Women want to know what real men really think about this subject. After all, you are the ones whom modesty/immodesty affects the most (besides ourselves). So guys, speak up! And ladies, ask your husband, father, or brother to lend input and send me a quote from him, too.

Hope to hear from you soon!

This will also help me know how many visitors I have... I tried subscribing to a site meter recently, and it's telling me that I have received 0 hits. I think/hope there's at least a couple more than that!

Next Weekend in Wisconsin...

...I am thrilled to be speaking at the "Embracing Your Call to Holiness" Women's Conference in Altoona, WI on Saturday, March 6th. If you or a lady you know lives somewhere in that area, please take this as a personal invitation! :)

The online PDF brochure can be downloaded here. You can still register by calling
715-597-2268.

I will be presenting two talks...

Clothed with Grace: Feminine Modesty and the Call to Beauty
Society depends on our authenticity as women, and more than ever has need of our gifts and dignity. This feminine dignity is empowered by purity and protected by the virtue of modesty. What does the Church say about feminine dignity, and what does it teach about modesty? What is feminine mystique? What role does beauty play in the healing of society? While exploring the answers to these and other important questions, we will learn from the inspiring examples of Our Lady and heroic feminine saints to understand the noble call of womanhood.

Raising Marylike Maidens amidst a Culture of Death
In a culture that eschews virtue and encourages vice, powerful influences infiltrate from every direction to affect the formation of our young generation. The challenge is to train our children to be in the world, but not of it. How can we raise young women confident in their identity as daughters of God and filled with holy boldness to resist the darkness? Sharing from her homeschool upbringing and experiences as a teacher and Catechetical leader, Claire will offer wisdom relevant not only to mothers, but to all Catholic women.

Regardless of your proximity to La Crosse, WI, please keep me in your prayers this week as I prepare my presentations, and work to update and replenish my print resources. I also really need to update my website... Holy Spirit, grant me efficiency!

Praying for Priests — Novena Day 5

Responsorial...

Priests are called to consecrate their lives to God for the salvation of his people and to unite themselves more closely every day to Christ the High Priest.

Intercession...

United with Jesus Christ the Great High Priest, we pray;
Lord, show us your face!

That priests will renew and intensify their devotion to daily prayer;
Lord, show us your face!

That priests will prayerfully meditate on the law of God and put into practice what they teach;
Lord, show us your face!

That priests will sustain God's people by sharing with them the fruits of their own prayer lives;
Lord, show us your face!

Pray the Prayer to the Mother of God shared on Day 1.

Prayer for Priests — Novena Day 4

"O Jesus, eternal Priest, keep your priests within the shelter of Your Sacred Heart, where none may touch them."

Pray the Prayer to the Mother of God shared on Day 1.

If you're on Facebook, look up this wonderful group started by some friends of mine: Humble Prayers for Holy Priests.

Prayer for Priests — Novena Day 3

The Wisdom of the Church:

"A priest's office is to be a mediator between God and his people, for as much as he bestows divine blessings on the people and offers up their prayers to God, and in some manner renders satisfaction to God for their sins...Because he is placed between God and man, the priest should touch God by his prayer and touch man by his mercy and compassion."

(St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica)

Pray the Prayer to the Mother of God shared on Day 1.

Prayer for Priests — Novena Day 2

Insights of St. John Vianney:

"Oh, how great is the priest! If he understood himself he would die...God obeys him; he speaks two words, and Our Lord comes down from heaven at his voice, and shuts himself up in a little Host...

If man well understood this mystery, he would die of love."

Pray the Prayer to the Mother of God shared on Day 1.

Prayer for Priests — Novena Day 1

I decided there would be no better time than today to begin a novena for priests. I've had the Magnificat Year for Priests companion sitting in my book basket for at least a few months...



Won't you join me? Drop me a comment to let me know that you're participating in this spiritual effort, and if you have your own prayer source, do share it with us!



I will try to share a portion of the Magnificat Novena each day...

A Prayer to the Mother of God for Priests by St. Charles Borromeo

O Holy Mother of God, pray for the priests you Son has chosen to serve the Church. Help them, by you intercession, to be holy, zealous, and chaste. Make them models of virtue in the service of God's people. Help them be pious in mediation, efficacious in preaching, and zealous in the daily offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Help them administer the Sacraments with love and joy. Amen.

You can learn more about the wonderful Magnificat booklet here (it's only $3.95, and I found mine free at a nearby parish), or there is a beautiful prayer from EWTN here.

"How great is the priest!

He will only rightly understand himself in heaven.

To understand the priesthood on earth

would make one die, not of fear, but of love.

The priesthood is the heart of the love of Jesus."

(St. John Marie Vianney, Cure of Ars)

Today: Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

One of my favorite verses:

"Always be ready to give an explanation

to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope,
but do it with gentleness and reverence..."

(1 Peter 3:15-16)

Here's something that is only slightly related, but amusing enough to mention — the two or three times today that I typed "Chair", my fingers automatically added an "e" to the end. After all, how many thousands of times have I typed my own name? :) Similarly, whenever I need to type the name "Tim", it always becomes "time" first... typing autopilot, I suppose!

Prayer for Priests

I've seen trial and difficulty come lately to too many priests I know. We can always use a reminder to pray for our priests!

Jesus, Good Shepherd, Great High Priest, today I lift to You in prayer all of our priests. You left us Yourself in the person of the priest. Mold them into what You want them to be. Let them be You to each person they meet. May they fill all the needs of those who turn to them today. Send someone to lift their spirit and to be Jesus to them when others knock them down, to encourage them when their hope is gone. Give them all the strength and courage they need to persevere in holiness when under trial or just worn out from saving souls. Please bless us with many more holy priests. Teach us to love and appreciate all of our priests and to see You in them.

I consecrate all priests to the Immaculate Hands and Heart of Mary, Our Mother of Divine Love Patroness of Priests. I thank You for their priesthood. Keep them close to You. Please enfold and protect them in Your Mantle of Divine Love. My Lord Jesus I trust in You! Amen.

Pro-Life Victory

LifeSiteNews.com —

Young Counselor Threatened with Knife Learns that Baby Was Saved from Abortion

Three months after being threatened with a knife to her throat by a woman entering an abortion mill, 21-year-old pro-life counselor Leah Winandy has
learned that her attacker has decided not to abort her child – and credits Leah
and Leah’s mother for saving her from a life of regret.

Population

The video speaks for itself. I guess we need more Duggar families if we're going to balance this out! ;)

A Picture of Love

My column in this weekend's bulletin at the parish where I am Religious Education Coordinator. Happy St. Valentine's Day to my readers!

Today is Valentine’s Day, concluding National Marriage Week which was February 7-14! Despite what many think, this is not just another Hallmark holiday. This day actually started as the celebration of a wonderful Catholic Saint:

St. Valentine, a priest in Rome during the persecution of Christians in the 200’s, risked his life to help his fellow Christians to worship in secret. When the Emperor Claudius issued a decree forbidding marriage (in order to increase troops for his army, believing that single men made better soldiers than married men), Valentine defied this decree and urged young lovers to come to him in secret so that he could join them in the sacrament of matrimony. He knew that marriage is a holy union willed by God. Eventually he was discovered by the Emperor and was thrown into prison. While in prison, Valentine converted his jailor to the Christian Faith, and also healed the jailor’s daughter, who was blind. Legend has it that while in jail, he wrote letters to encourage the Christians and signed them “From Your Valentine”. He was martyred on February 14, and his feast day became Valentine’s Day.

Our society has a lot of mixed-up ideas about love. We might hear someone say “I love pizza”… then “I love my wife” and “I love Jesus”! In reality, love can only be toward a person – never a thing. It is about much more than flowers, balloons, chocolates, poetic cards, or warm feelings. True love is not just expressed in a costly gift, but in the giving of oneself. It can be much easier to bare one’s wallet than it is to bare one’s heart.

If we want a picture of love, all we need do is look at the cross. Jesus Christ, Love incarnate, came to show us that love equals sacrifice. He said to us: “This is how much I love you” – and then gave up His life for us.

How many spouses get motivated to do something memorable and romantic today, and then return to Mr. or Mrs. Grouch tomorrow? The challenge to each of us today is this: Am I willing to lay down my life – or at the very least, my comforts or preferences – for the sake of the one that I love?

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

"Joy is a net of love

by which you can catch souls."

"Intense love does not measure,

it just gives."

"Love begins at home,

and it is not how much we do...

but how much love we put in that action."

"I have found the paradox,

that if you love until it hurts,

there can be no more hurt, only more love."

"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God

who is sending a love letter to the world."

(Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta)

~ ~ ~

"Since love grows within you, so beauty grows.

For love is the beauty of the soul."

(Saint Augustine of Hippo)

Miss Anna at Maidens of Worth has a beautiful reflection here.

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Feminine Hairstyles, Day 7

Model: Miss Rachel

Style: "The Rachel Braid" :)

Done: Last July at Ave Cor Mariae Summer Camp

Time: 3o minutes (?)

Supplies: Comb, hairties, bobby pins

How: Rachel's hair is only a bit past her shoulders, but is thick and textured. It was also wavy from being previously braided, so that added even more volume! As is often the case when I "invent" a braid, this one is the combination of a few different things. :)

1. You will first need to know the "X & O braid", as explained here.

2. You will also need to experience doing an upside-down single french braid. This is the same concept as a regular french braid, only started at the neck going upward. It's explained here.

3. The first part of The Rachel Braid is a combination of the above two: an X braid down up-side down, but leaving some of the upper hair free.

4. After doing the X braid, I parted her upper hair down the center and made a small rolled bun on either side, placed so that the ending braids from the X could come up around the outside of each, and the braid ends tucked into the center.

I'm not sharing this one to intimidate anyone, just to provide an example of the kind of thing you can come up by creatively combining what you know. :)


Photos:

Top view

Back (see the X?)

Side (the hair above the slight part is what I used to make the rolled bun)

She was pleased, I think!

Feminine Hairstyles, Day 6

Model: Miss Mary Kate

Style: French herringbone/fishtail, tucked under

Done: Last summer (as you can see from all the foliage in the photos!)

Time: Maybe 15 minutes

Supplies: Comb, hairtie, few large bobby pins and/or small claw clips if you plan to tuck it under. *This braid is challenging on fine or slippery hair. Miss MK's hair is somewhat textured and was also just perfectly damp-dry at this time I did this, which is why it turned out best of any french herringbone I've tried! If you are going to try it with fine hair, I suggest using mouse or a volumizing product first.

How: Go to "Fishtail or Herringbone Braids" on this page. I generally recommend adding very small sections of hair for this braid. The hair should always be damp or wet for best results. I do recommend trying out the basic herringbone technique first with the hair in a ponytail, then without the pontail, then the french way.

Photos:

Braid down

Tuck end under and secure with hidden pins/clips

One more view...

Feminine Hairstyles, Day 5

Models: Elyse and Sarah

Style: The no-iron curled updo

Supplies: Comb, plenty of bobby pins, hairspray, accessories or flowers if desired

Time: Between 15-45 minutes, depending on thickness and type of hair

How: I just started doing this one in the past few months after seeing the basic concept. It's been well-received every time, and would be ideal for any formal event or a wedding! Here are the fundamental steps:

1. Do something — either small twists or braids or a "poof" using bobby pins — with the upper hair so that is frames the face and is drawn securely to the middle of the head with criss-cross bobby pins. On both the models below I did a side part and two small french ropes using the same braiding technique used here.

2. The updo is achieved by taking a small to medium strand of hair (the thinner the hair, the smaller the section), combing it through and coating it with hairspray, then using two of your fingers as a "roller" to roll it toward the head. Do this as neatly as possible, making the roll somewhat wide and thin. When you have rolled all the way to the scalp, carefully remove your fingers from inside, smooth the "curl" and position it whichever direction you would like, and fasten it in place with a bobby pin or two in each side (underneath the roll so that you can't see it).

3. The key is thickness and placement of the "curls". You don't want them all going the same direction, but there should be some order to it. Depending on the length, texture, and thickness of the hair, you will make probably 10-30 rolls for the entire updo.

4. When finished, hairspray your masterpiece and add any desire accessories, flowers, or hair sparkle dust. :) For our December orchestra concert, I did this on three of us, and we added red roses for a beautiful effect. Alas, somehow there aren't any pictures of those...

I have done this one on myself with the aid of a mirror, and then had my sister secure a few out-of-place strands when finished. This style can be done nicely on shoulder-length to waist-length hair, whether layered or not.

Photos:

Elyse from choir — her hair is fairly thick,

about 6" below her shoulders, and has a lot of layers

Different lighting and angle

The sparkly flower clips made by Veronica and I
ended up being featured a lot in this series —
I suppose because they are so versatile!

My sister Sarah at this year's Father-Daughter Snow Ball


Accented with peach-tone roses and babies breath

Feminine Hairstyles, Day 4

Model: "Miss Flora"

Style: The heart braid (I learned this one from Vicki!)

Done: About two months ago

How: Seat her so that her face is looking at you. Part hair down the center and about halfway down the scalp. Take a very small section of hair from the middle of her head, next to the part, and start braiding toward yourself. Use the french "lace braid" technique by only adding sections from the part. As you come towards her forehead, curve the braid into a J shape for the left side, or a backwards J for the right side. Finish the end of the braid and secure it while you do the other side. Join the braids together in the middle and add a barette or accessory, if desired.

Supplies: Comb, small hairties. *If the hair is fine or slippery, you will need to wet the top down with a spray bottle of water before braiding.*

Time: About 10 minutes

Photos:

Front

Back (see the heart?)

As you can see, this braid is adorable with short hair, but it can be done easily on longer hair as well.

Feminine Hairstyles, Day 3

Model: "Miss Eve" (Miss Nacia's sister!)

Style: Two-into-one french rope

Done: About a month ago

How: For this style, part the hair down the middle and clip one half of it while you do the other. The french rope is done using two sections of hair (not three until the end). Do the right side first following these steps:

1. Take two small sections of hair from the top. Twist the outer piece clockwise before crossing it to the left over the other section.

2. Add a small section of hair to both pieces and repeat the above action. It is important to twist the outer section clockwise (or to the right) every time you cross it to the left. This is what makes the twist pattern show up.

3. Continue until nearly half the hair is included. Leave a small section — about half the thickness of what you just braided — undone at the bottom. Add a few extra twists to the rope for security and place one or two claw clips to hold it while you do the other side.

5. The left side is done exactly as a mirror of the right. You cross the outer section over the inner, but this time you will be twisting it counterclockwise, or to the left, before crossing it to the right.

6. Leave a section of hair at the bottom, the same thickness as the other, and join these two together. For the hanging down rope braid, three sections are needed, and this has just become your third section.

7. The joining together of the three parts into one rope braid must be done carefully so as not to loosen your french ropes. This transition is the most difficult part and comes with practice to perfect the method that works best for you.

8. The three-strand rope is achieved by holding the pieces firmly in your fingers throughout this action: twist the far left piece counterclockwise (to the left), then cross it over both the other pieces. The entire braid rotates a bit. This action is repeated constantly from left to right, always taking the (new) lefthand piece, twisting it counterclockwise, and crossing it over the other two.

9. It would be a good idea for you to practice the three-strand rope (step 8) by itself before trying this style. Initially try it with your hair in a ponytail, which is easier, then progress to starting it without a ponytail. Once you have perfected these, you will be ready to try the two-into-one french rope. :)

10. For this braid, I left the very bottom looped up into the scrunchie (optional).

Supplies: Comb, hairtie or scrunchie, and maybe a few tiny clips or bobby pins to secure loose strands after you are done. *If the hair is fine or slippery, you will need to wet it down with a spray bottle before trying this style.*

Time: About 15-20 minutes (but allow more if you are just trying it out)

Photos:

Side close-up

View II

Such a sweetheart!

Feminine Hairstyles, Day 2

Model: "Miss Nacia"

Style: A combination of five princess crowns, named after this young lady since I invented it for her. :)

Done: About a month ago

How: The "princess crown" is what I call a small, horizontal, curved french braid which pulls hair only from the front. This combination is explained in more detail with the photos below...

Supplies: Comb, small hairties (and I actually styled her bangs with hand lotion because it was nearby — it worked!)

Time: I redid parts of this one while deciding how I wanted it to look, so it was probably about 30-45 minutes.

Photos:

Finished "masterpiece". She was so patient while I experimented, but by her expression upon looking in the mirror, I think she was satisfied. :)

The first two braids go from right to left, the middle braid from left to right, and the bottom two from right to left.
The other side...


The front gives an unique "pigtail" appearance with two braids on one side and two on the other