Illuminated By Joy

     We all have to pray. Prayer is a very basic requirement for Christian life, and besides, we wouldn't last very long without it. But what are some ways we can pray? And how do we know which way is right for us?      Below are some different forms of prayer that are good for different purposes. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but they can all be very effective in bringing us closer to Christ. Daily examen      This form of prayer requires five steps:       1.) Become aware of God's presence       2.) Thank God for the ways He has blessed you in since the last time you prayed       3.) Reflect on the ways that God was present in your life since the last time you prayed       4.) Ask forgiveness for all of the sins you've committed       5.) Choose one area to improve on in the future       This can be very he...

 Do you ever want to read something well written, Catholic, and... exciting, but struggle to find a novel that fits all of these three categories? Some books are well written and exciting, but aren't Catholic; others are Catholic and well written but aren't exciting; or even Catholic and exciting but badly written?  Well, here I am to introduce to you the author of well written, Catholic, and exciting teen novels!  I present Susan Peek and her opus! Susan Peek is writing a series for Catholic teens called God's forgotten friends, lives of little-known saints.  The series features novels about, you guessed it, little known saints.  Susan Peek showcases the lives of saints as they truly are! Epic, incredible, and inspiring.  Her novels include:  Crusader King: A Novel of Baldwin IV and the Crusades.  An action-packed, thrilling historical novel about the little-known life of Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, the leper Crusader king who despite ascending the...

 Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been posting! As you all know, Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8th, just a few weeks ago. Some said (ridiculously) that she was immortal. She did reign for 70 years, but that's besides the point. Did you realize, though, that she died on the birthday of an even greater queen? Mary, the Mother of Jesus! It reminds me that no matter how much we achieve in life, or how great we become, we will all die in the end. We will all be dwarfed by Jesus and His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, just as Queen Elizabeth was. So, if we truly wish to become great, we must strive to live for the next world. For then, only then, will we become part of the royal family in Heaven, which is much greater than any royal family here on earth.

Hello everyone!  Sorry about the lack of posts. I've been stuck on a post that's taking me ages to write, so I'm taking a break from it and writing other stuff.  Now, to give you some background before the tips, a few years ago I started developing a deeper spiritual life due to just one talk I heard when I was eleven or so. It was a talk by a priest about the Eucharist. Now, he talked about the parallels the Eucharist has in the Old Testament and Jewish Law but that part didn't really effect me. At the end he asked us (I was with a group of girls) how we prepared for Holy Communion and thanked our Lord after. I usually said a couple prayers after that were in my missal, but I didn't prepare, and left as soon as Mass was over with my family. He told us about the amount of preparation and thanksgiving we should do, and said they were equally important. He said that we should stay in church 15-20 minutes if we could after receiving Jesus, because it is only after that...