St. Zelie Martin an amazing mother and saint

Most of what I write about (abortion) is depressing. My protection against this evil is to turn to Jesus, Mary, and the saints. One of the best places I can do this (apart from Mass, the Rosary and the Sacraments) is to turn to the Discerning Hearts podcast. Kris McGregor is the host. She has literally a ton of good spiritual content from interviews with book authors, to conferences on saints, to audio books, to novenas, to...you name it.

The content is a healing salve for the soul. I download the episodes to my phone, and can listen to them off-line when I am walking or driving, or doing housework, etc.

Two of my favourite conferences are with Fr. Timothy Gallagher on St. Therese's sister Leonie Martin and Therese's parents St. Louis and St. Zelie Martin (which I am listening to now). Their life was not easy: Leonie's life was very difficult, the deaths of four of Zelie's and Louis' young children, breast cancer, war, etc. So much suffering but also so much joy.

I have read the Story of a Soul by St. Therese. But I find Therese hard to relate to--a great saint to be sure but honestly I just don't really get her. So listening to the letters from her mother (which there are many) about her family (and the commentary) I have found to be absolutely breathtakingly beautiful and hopeful.

If you need a break from the woke world we now live in, check our Discerning Hearts and pick a gem from their basket of precious jewels, of which there are many.

St. Zelie and St. Louis

Servant of God Leonie Martin

There is no problem that cannot be solved by the Rosary

One of the most beautiful spiritual books I have ever come across is this one IN SINU JESU. The book is written by an anonymous Benedictine monk.

From the description of the book:

"In 2007, Our Lord and Our Lady began to speak to the heart of a monk in the silence of adoration. He was prompted to write down what he received, and thus was born In Sinu Jesu, whose pages shine with an intense luminosity and heart-warming fervor that speak directly to the inner and outer needs of our time with a unique power to console and challenge."

Here is the entry from Tuesday, December 2, 2014 on the Rosary. This is a private revelation where Jesus is speaking to the monk:

"There is no problem or difficulty that cannot be solved or resolved by faithful persevering recourse to My Mother's most holy Rosary. The Rosary is My Mother's gift to the poor and to the simple, to the little ones who alone are capable of hearing the Gospel in all its purity and of responding to it with a generous heart. It is to such as these - the childlike and the weak, the poor and the trusting - that the Rosary is given. It is to such as these that the Rosary belongs.

There are no sufferings that cannot be borne peacefully, so long as a soul is praying the Rosary. Through the Rosary, all the grace and power of My mysteries passes through My Mother's Immaculate Heart into the hearts of the little ones who invoke her, repeating the angel's "Ave" over and over again. There are illnesses that can be cured through the Rosary. There are clouds of darkness and confusion that only the Rosary can disperse, and this because it is My Mother's favourite prayer, a prayer that originated in the heights of heaven and was carried to earth by My Archangel, a prayer echoed and amplified in the Church through the ages, a prayer loved by all My saints, a prayer of disarming power and of immense depth.

There are those who find the Rosary difficult. The difficulty lies not in the Rosary but in the complexity of those who struggle to enter into its simplicity. Invite souls to the prayer of the Rosary; through it I will heal the sick of mind and body, through it I will give peace where there is conflict, through it I will make great saints out of great sinners, through it I will sanctify My priests, give joy to My consecrated ones, and raise up new vocations in abundance.

Listen, then, to My Mother's plea in so many places. Listen to her, take her plea to heart, pray her Rosary and, for you, as for her, My Father will do wondrous things."

This is the hopeful message Canada and the world needs right now. We need to say so many Rosaries.

Victoria: a change from snow and %&*$#@

I have my marching orders from Maureen:

"I'm sick of the Ottawa snow and %&*$#@. A change would be nice (pictures of flowers)".

The flowers still aren't blooming, but here are a few pics to cheer you up.

Bulbous trees.

This looks like a picnic table stuck to a tree. Maybe a picnic table for birds?

Funny signs.

Pretty houses.

Big trees.

And I did find flowers. Outside our hosts' front door.

Our first beer. Yum.