Illuminated By Joy

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been posting! Anyhow, Happy late All Saints Day and  All Souls Day! These are two days of the year when we can really reflect that we're not alone; we have souls up in Heaven and Purgatory that are praying for us. Together, these three parts of the Church, the Church Militant (us, here on earth), the Church Suffering (those in Purgatory), and the Church Triumphant (those in Heaven) make up the mystical Body of Christ. We can get a small taste of that on earth by partaking in Holy Communion at Mass, where Heaven really does become one with earth. Jesus is really present there, but so is Mary, and all of the saints! It can just make us all reflect on just how amazing it will be when we do get into Heaven. We will all be One in Christ. We will also all be saints, whether the rest of the world knows our story, or not.  Let us all, then, strive to become saints and see one another in the Kingdom of Heaven.

On the evening of May16, 2020, I received a text from a friend asking me if I wanted to join a prayer group. I said yes, and I am definitely glad I made that decision. She created the group with me and a few other friends the following day. It was hard to manage things at first-- we had to find a time that worked for everyone, what prayers we said at the end of the Chaplet or Rosary, and what some of our "customs" were-- but eventually we came through.   I always looked forward to the sessions every day except for Sunday. We video chatted and prayed a rosary or chaplet (it depended on the circumstances of each day) and we concluded with our closing prayers, a litany of our patron saints, and our motto: "Pray, hope, and don't worry." ~St. Padre Pio We were able to continue the group for more than two years, and it helped me in so many ways. It gave me a chance to get to know my fellow members better, and a community I could turn to if I needed support. We were a...

 Happy feast of the Holy Rosary all!  I decided to pop in today to talk about the feast of the rosary, and why it's today. Because today is not the anniversary of our Lady appearing to St Dominic or anything like that. Actually it's the anniversary of the Battle of Lepanto!  The battle of Lepanto happened when a huge navy of Turks threatened to sweep all over Europe in the 16th century. A few countries banded together at the call of the Pope, led by the only person who would lead them, the half brother of the Spanish King, Don Juan of Austria.  They had a much smaller fleet than the Turks. The whole of Christendom was in danger. The Pope asked the entire Church to pray the rosary for victory and due to her intercession the Catholic fleet had a decisive victory. And so from then it was at first our Lady of Victory and now it is our Lady of the Rosary!  If you want to hear the battle recounted in epic proportions read G. K. Chesterton's poem, the Battle of Lepanto...

     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...