This is my brother Marcel Van. Today is his big day. He was born on March 15, 1928, and thanks to God's plan, Marcel learned to love Jesus from his childhood. As he grew, he loved Jesus more and more, and before long, he wanted to be with Jesus all the time in Heaven. He had to wait until this day, July 10, in 1959 when he was 31 years old. Finally, Jesus took him to Heaven.

If the angels will help us, we here at Miss Marcel's Musings can do the math. Let's see. 1959 to 2026 is (counting on fingers, no kidding!) . . . 67 years. If we add that to Marcel's 31 years when he flew off to Heaven in 1959, we get 98 years. 

Marcel would be 98 years old if he were still on earth today. 
Hmmmm.
I have a very dear friend I will see tomorrow, God willing, and she is 98 too. She recently hosted me at her home, where she joyfully lives alone - well, with Jesus and her guardian angel, but without anyone earthly living with her - and she served delicious homemade soup to me and another friend (much younger than 98).

When I asked her about the incredibly wonderful sourdough bread she brought out of the oven, she smilingly said she had it delivered to her doorstep once a month and she popped some out of the freezer to bake as needed. Yum! 

When I asked her about the soup - now thinking I had been silly to imagine she was cooking at 98 - she said, "I made it, of course!" Oh my goodness! Maybe if I start now and keep working hard for 37 more years, I'll become the kind of delightful hostess my friend is, and able to offer such delicious and nourishing lunches to anyone who decides to drop by (with just a little warning).

On the other hand, I think I'll leave that superpower to my friend and focus instead on writing about Marcel. Because my point here, lost as it has become in memories of sourdough and soup, is that Marcel would be my friend's age if he had remained on earth. Perhaps he would have emigrated to the U.S., and even moved to Southern California where we could have met and become friends "in real life."

There is some truth, some imagination, and some mistake in that last paragraph. To get rid of the mistake (truth and imagination are fine!), let's amend the final sentence according to the suggestion of our editor in chief, St. Therese. (My heavens, a post about Marcel, and St. Therese doesn't come in until paragraph seven. I definitely need to work on my Marcel-writing. I will have to be fed by friends while I improve my craft.) She has a lot to say about life . . .

Therese's beloved novice Marie of the Trinity once said to her, "Life is sad." 
Therese replied from her sick bed, "Life is not sad." Then seeing the confusion on Marie's face, she continued, "Oh! You mean this exile? Yes, this is sad, but real life is happy, very happy!"

So I ought to have said that if Marcel had lived longer in exile from our true homeland in Heaven (and I think the very suggestion is giving him the heeby-jeebies even as he gazes upon God at this moment!), we could have met and become friends, perhaps even dipped our shared crusty, fresh sourdough into homemade soup at my hostess' (his age mate's) table together with the little Rose who was there too . . . 

Instead, Marcel has gone before us to real life, and he, like his spiritual sister, soul-mate, and kindred spirit St. Therese, has now in glory the two-fold purpose they shared on earth, she in her lifetime from 1873 to 1897, he in his from 1928 to 1959: namely, to love God and make Him loved.

Happily for us (ecstatically, even, though not in the technical religious sense), their mission to make God loved matches their Little Way of loving Him, and this is a way that is short, easy, and often hilarious. No long faces for us! No long prayers either - though oft-repeated shorter ones, and a nearly constant conversation with our best friend Jesus. 

I say "nearly constant conversation" because Marcel wrote in a letter to a friend that he'd learned it's better to ignore Jesus and focus on what's physically in front of you when you're driving. Marcel had been riding a bike on an errand and accidentally crashed into some people who were walking, and all because he was chatting with Jesus as he rode! We can conclude that it's not only okay but even desirable to sometimes forget Our Lord for a few minutes because He's asked us to buy groceries in a safe and timely manner!

But getting back to my happy dream of Marcel still being stuck on earth, upon reflection I think it's better that he went to Heaven in 1959, and I can come up with so many reasons right off the top of my head:

1. Because he wanted it so badly (union with Jesus) and waited so long (when you're in love, the shortest separation can seem like years, and Marcel had to wait actual years) . . .

2. Because - well, would you look at that!

Miss Marcel here, and I come by my name honestly. Marcel complained frequently to Jesus in their Conversations that he (Marcel, that is) couldn't remember anything. In fact, when Marcel wasn't complaining about his forgetfulness, Jesus often was! And here I am with every blessed reason that I'd had in my pretty little head having flown or fallen right out of it again. Let me think harder.

3. Oh yes. If Marcel was on earth still, then we'd have the same problem and miss the same benefit that we experience with all those we love who are still stuck in exile. It's simply this: for those on earth (except for Padre Pio when he was on earth, and even he had some limits), the body occupies one space at a time. This means that a person is in one place and can't be in others, and the consequence is that few people can spend time with that person-in-one-place, or at least relatively few compared to how many have instant access to that person when he gets to Heaven and is accessible to all at the same time.

In other words, because Marcel is in Heaven, I have constant access to him, and so do you and so does everyone! Granted everyone doesn't yet know the advantages of having constant access to Marcel, and so these billions are perhaps preoccupied with their latest gadget, app, or delicious sourdough eaten without Marcel's company, but that only means I need to stop wasting time and write more to boost his stats in the hearts of countless sad souls who don't yet know our little brother.

Why, again? Why, that is, should everyone know Marcel?

The answer is a little bit like why everyone should read The Paradise Project.
Because it, and Marcel, will make you laugh, and life, that is this exile, is far too long (just ask Marcel!) if you try to live it without joy.

One of my favorite things about Marcel - and there are so very many, though if we start a list again, I may again forget everything! - is the way, the very Little Way, that he and Therese and Jesus and Mary insist in his Conversations (the book of books in my book!) on joy in every form. Laughter, smiles, jokes, funny faces, silly stories, children's games, word play - it's all part of the plan, all part of their rapport, and definitely not merely a suggestion, but this joy is rather the desire and delight of Jesus' Sacred Heart and His constant petition to Marcel. 

Yes, Jesus asks Marcel and He insists with Marcel and He employs St. Therese to insist, and they both no doubt learned this heavy emphasis on joy from the Cause of Our Joy, Our Lady of Joyful Surprises, the Blessed Mother! How ironic! (Which I suppose is itself a form of delight, or a cause of it.) Can you really insist on joy? Jesus, Mary, and Therese sure try!

Here is a passage taken at random from Marcel's Conversations (with Jesus, Mary, and Therese of the Child Jesus). The day after Christmas in 1945, St. Therese says to Marcel:

My dear little brother, are you happy, are you joyful? How many kisses has little Jesus given you already? How lovely little Jesus is. Do you love Him, dear little brother? To see you happy is also a great joy for me, but what makes me happier still is to hear little Jesus call me your older sister. Little brother, when I see you happy, my heart also shares your joy; on seeing your smile blossom like a pretty flower, I would wish to pick it, to photograph it and then to show it to you when suffering returns so as to get from you at least the suggestion of a smile.

And here, even more wonderfully, is one of my favorite passages from my favorite book. Marcel has just asked Jesus (on the feast of Christ the King, October 28, 1945), "Jesus, are you sad sometimes because of me?"

Jesus replies: "My child, if that ever happens it is only when I see you sad. When you are happy, how could I be sad? So be happy always. A single one of your joys suffices to console me very much."

If you have time or the desire, why not memorize that last line. It will come in handy!

"Be happy always. A single one of your joys suffices to console me very much."

Pope Benedict XVI, when he was Cardinal Ratzinger providing commentary to go along with the release of the third secret of Fatima, explained that private revelations are good insofar as they encourage us to enter more deeply into public revelation. Applying that principle to our reading of Marcel's writings, I say don't just believe it because I say that Jesus said it to Marcel, but rather, please believe in His Love because Jesus has told us over and over this same truth in the love letter of the Holy Scriptures, and he has put these words on His apostle St. Paul:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again, rejoice!

I often speak of feasts hidden behind a Sunday. This Sunday, for instance, July 12th, is the wedding anniversary and feast day of St. Therese's incomparable parents, Saints Louis and Zelie Martin. Their feast will be, though, "hidden behind the Sunday" this year because we always celebrate Sunday as a little Easter and feast of Our Lord, which takes precedence over the feasts of the saints.

I bring this up because Marcel's feast is also hidden, though it takes place on a Friday this year. It is hidden because he is still merely a little Servant of God, not yet beatified (Blessed) or canonized (a Saint), and not yet even Venerable (having had his heroic virtues proclaimed). The Church hasn't yet assigned him a real feast day, but that doesn't mean we can't celebrate. Our little brother achieved his greatest desire: on this day in 1959, Jesus sipped up Marcel like a drop of dew, and at last they were and are one forever. That is surely something to celebrate!

So have a cupcake, a slice of toasted sourdough, a cup of tea or a glass of wine . . . go fly a kite, gaze at a sunrise or sunset, listen to some fun or glorious music, and sing! But above all, rejoice, because a single one of your joys suffices to console Jesus, our Love and Marcel's, very much!

Draw me; we will run!

Happy Belated Birthday to our beloved translator of Marcel, Sir Jack Keogan! (Not officially knighted yet on earth, but surely Heaven has done so!) And equally happy belated birthday to Miss Marcel East!!

I am, unsurprisingly, a day late if not a dollar short. I do, however, come with gifts in hand:
A birthday tea complete with roses from St. Therese and her little brother Marcel Van....and a copy of Issue 1 of Roughhouse Magazine!

True, they are only pictures on a screen for now, but if my hearts' desires come true (and they seem to more and more as I take our sister Therese's promises about Jesus' promises seriously), maybe one of these days I'll get to treat both dear Jack and dear MM East to a cream tea and not just one but two copies of Roughhouse (since issue 2 is set to go out next week)!

I am calling Miss Marcel East the 3rd biggest fan of our hero Jack because his wife is number one, and I am number two. I haven't even factored in Marcel and Therese, so MM East may have to go down to fan number 5 . . . but why quibble on a birthday (or the day after)? I'll cede my seat and let her sit closer to Jack for their mutual birthday which was yesterday - and so must be celebrated for at least an octave hence.

Meanwhile our sincerest and heartiest congrats to them both, Jack and MME, and many, many happy returns of the day!

With love and prayers from all here at Miss Marcel's Musings, and all Heaven as well!

Draw me; we will run!!!

I had thought of calling this post "St. Joseph Roughhousing," but there were a couple of stumbling blocks.

First, although I've been musing on my own about St. Joseph and the Holy Family, and if we let one thing lead to another, the image of St. Joseph and little Jesus roughhousing could follow not too far behind images of St. Joseph and Jesus working and praying together - for after all, play is as natural a part of home life as work and prayer, if not even more natural - still, I didn't want to shock anyone who hasn't yet imagined (I just started today, after all) St. Joseph and the boy Jesus in the many and varied activities that must have made up their home life.

But second and more importantly, it might be good for me to get to the point, and since today is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, I figured we might as well dive into the bush directly instead of beating around it.

The truth is there's been a lot of work happening in my neck of the woods, and St. Joseph has been doing the heavy lifting. He's always so quiet and industrious that you could miss him, but I'm paying close attention and want to make sure to thank him - along with St. Edmond Campion, St. Max Kolbe, our new heavenly friend Joe W, and our old friends St. John Bosco and St. Dom Savio - for helping my boy Dominic find his mission in life, or at least his mission for the next thirteen months.

Dom is two years out of college and very busy. He's been in and out of the house, and when out his travels have taken him to Italy and Japan in 2025 alone. Many opportunities have beckoned from both these terrific countries, but it turns out his work was waiting for him at home in the U.S.A. all along. What work?

Roughhouse Magazine! We've got beta copies in the mail and on order (ran out of the first set of 40 before we could blink), while the launch date is set for June 1st. Bravo, Dom!

So what is Roughhouse Magazine? It's the print magazine the boys of the world have been waiting for! It will arrive in their mailboxes once a month, filling their minds and hearts with stories of heroes and adventure, while drawing their hands into all kinds of things to make and do. There will be Lego sets to build, card games to try out, comics to read, basketball games to play, Morse Code to learn. This is the magazine that is missing in our current culture, the monthly treasure chest to lure your brothers, sons, nephews, godsons, grandkids, and neighborhood hoodlums, I mean neighborhood friends off the couch, away from the computer or smart phone, and into Real Life!

But Dom says it so much better than I can . . . 

"Roughhouse Magazine is a return to a better time for boy’s magazines. Inspired by the “Boy’s Own” magazines of the 1800s and Scout Life’s older issues, we aim to form today’s boys into tomorrow’s men by grounding them in the real. Every issue of Roughhouse is beautiful, sturdy, and crafted with care, filled with stories of heroism, projects, and games.

"Our magazines are divided into three sections: History and Adventure, Science and Mechanics, and Games and Fun. History and Adventure deals with stories of good and great men, whether they’re from the past or the present. Tales of battle, interviews with first responders, and more. Science and Mechanics, meanwhile, grounds boys in the world around them. Finally, Games and Fun is, as the title suggests, filled with games and fun things to do!

"Every issue is printed on durable paper and filled with gorgeous illustrations. Content includes stories from history, projects for your boys to build, games to play, and more."

To learn more about Roughhouse, read some sample articles, and subscribe, click here:

Roughhouse Magazine

I'm so excited because I spent my own boys' childhoods combing used bookstores and library sales for the kind of reading material that makes up each issue of Roughhouse. I guess I feel my time wasn't wasted (haha, I never did think it was! That much fun had to be a good thing!), but more importantly, it's now bearing fruit in the form of good, solid reading material for a new generation of boys!

Happy reading, and may St. Joseph the Worker care for you as lovingly as he did the Holy Family!

Draw me; we will run!

Alleluia, He is risen!
He is risen indeed!!!

A very happy Easter to you and yours! Are you still feasting? I sure hope so!

It seems almost too true to bother to mention, but have you noticed that in some ways it's easier to live Lent with our attempts at fasting for six weeks than to earnestly enjoy Easter with feasting for seven weeks? And yet this only inspires us here at Miss Marcel's Musings to suggest more varied and ingenious ways of feasting so that we can help you live the Church's liturgical year and Our Lord's glorious resurrection with all the gusto you can muster . . . 

We recently had the joy of seeing this question and answer on our local Catholic email list:

Q: What lists are available for Catholic parents to use for their children?  Seems books are getting worse out there.  If anyone has a series or title they recommend, please add it on.

​A: I would recommend the book lists on our own Suzie Andres’s website!

You could've knocked me over with a feather! What a delight to have someone second the motion on my favorite books for all ages! And so, I've decided to provide easy links right here for feast day perusing. We are still in the octave of Easter, and on this verge of Divine Mercy Sunday, I can't think of a greater mercy in my life than good books. They have saved my life, and if you think I'm being a bit over-the-top with that statement, I'm only following in the footsteps of the Big Teresa (of Avila), who said in The Book of Her Life (her autobiography): 

"My fondness for good books was my salvation." -St. Teresa of Jesus
 
Feel free to steal this idea, but I'm thinking a fun memoir could be titled, "Me Too!" and composed simply of favorite quotes one felt expressed perfectly the gist of life!

Anyhow, on to the book lists. These links will connect you to the pages listed in the drop down menu above under "Book Lists," and once you've read them all (the books, not the lists :), you can go to my homeschooling books (listed with links on this page) for even more book recommendations in their appendices. Finally, it seems to me I have a son or two around here who has (or have) been working on a website of great reading for kids, but what with one life project and another, it never got launched. Once Roughhouse Magazine is launched, I'll see what I can do to get son #2 to finish the book site begun by son #1! Meanwhile, happy feasting and happy reading!!

FAVORITE READ ALOUDS

FOR LITTLE ONES

FOR YOUNG READERS
   (In which you will find separate lists for fiction, religious biography, general non-fiction, and history)
   
FOR OLDER CHILDREN
     
FOR GROWNUPS: Gentle Reads
   (In which you will find lists for novels, essays and humor, English Catholic authors, and poetry)

SAINT THERESE (THE LITTLE FLOWER OF LISIEUX)
   (In which you will find lists of books by her, books about her, and books about her siblings)

SPIRITUAL TREASURES
    Not to spoil the surprise, but to give you a few titles to brighten your Easter celebrations immensely, here is what you will find on this page of "Spiritual Treasures" -

These are potential life changers, possibly even life savers! Here is a short list of my favorite spiritual books, culminating in my very, very favorite, Conversations, by St. Therese's spiritual little brother, the Servant of God, Marcel Van.
​
Baars, Conrad - Feeling and Healing Your Emotions, Born Only Once

Gaitley, Michael - 33 Days to Morning Glory, 33 Days to Merciful Love

Martinez, Luis - When God is Silent

Phillipe, Jacques - Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart

Van, Marcel - Conversations (with Jesus, Mary, and Therese) 

*   *   *

And lest we forget what is next to be feasted within our Easter celebrations:

HAPPY DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY!
Draw me; we will run!

Holy Card from my dear Aunt Mary to my dad, her "Petit Frere Henri," 1944, Tripoli, Lebanon

Prayer from the Missionaries of Charity . . . 

We here at Miss Marcel's Musings join the angels and saints in wishing you the Happiest St. Joseph day ever! We are asking Heaven for lots of miracles today! Do you need one? You are included in our novena, so count on it! We're not only petitioning good St. Joseph, but we're importuning St. Brother Andre of Montreal, Aunt Mary of Lebanon and Venezuela, Henri of Lebanon, Venezuela, Canada, and California, and so many more of our cloud of witnesses who are up close and personal with St. Joseph and little Jesus - May they all conspire with us to press St. Joseph into pressing Adorable Jesus to grant every one of those miracles we so need and desire!

Last night I spent a lot of time in the wee hours searching for the miracle of St. Joseph's friendship with Our Lady. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but I had an inkling, and when I found it, I breathed a sigh of relief and soon could go back to sleep. Here it is, for your spiritual delectation. For your bodily delectation, we recommend a cannoli, biscotti, tiramisu, or even (in the spirit of international friendship) St. Therese's favorite, an eclair! Maybe it's a glass of wine that floats your boat, or a cup of tea...Whatever it is, do celebrate this Solemnity with a feast for the body and the soul, because St. Joseph is wonderful! And, we might add, Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints!

What I found for us all for spiritual delight:

From "Divine Favors Granted to Saint Joseph by Pere Binet (God bless him), published as a booklet by TAN years ago, and also available on Kindle (Thank You, Jesus)!

St Joseph, guardian angel of Mary

Secondly, Joseph was chosen from all eternity to be the visible guardian angel of the virginity of Our Lady. Must not, then, his soul have been armed with every virtue, and fortified by every assistance necessary for such a noble and admirable office? Consider what manner of man Joseph is! The angels and Saints are only the servants of the glorious Virgin, while he is her guardian angel and her spouse. This title is far beyond the comprehension of our feeble intelligence; for, husband and wife being of one heart and one soul, what must be the sovereign dignity of a man who, so to speak, is one with the most holy Mother of the living God!

St. Bernardine of Siena has boldly grasped this thought. He says that as the virginal marriage of Mary and Joseph consisted in the union of their wills, the friendship of their hearts, and the love of their souls increased to such a degree that there never were two hearts more completely identified, two souls more dissolved into one, and he adds that the Holy Ghost would never have formed this union without rendering the husband perfectly similar to the wife. It was beseeming that the likeness of these two suns should be so striking that it would be difficult to distinguish one from the other. On one hand, the holiness of Our Lady outshines the holiness of all creatures; on the other hand, the holiness of Joseph is entirely like the holiness of Mary. 

. . . Were we to question the most Holy Virgin about the graces of her spouse, she would, no doubt, reply in words borrowed from the Canticle: 'My beloved spouse is white as snow by his virginal purity, red as scarlet by his modesty; chosen out of thousands. His head is as the finest gold; his eyes as doves upon brooks of waters which are washed with milk and set beside the plentiful streams; his hands shine like gold, full of the precious stones of all good works; his voice is full of sweetness; all the graces of nature are united in his face; he is beloved of heaven and earth.'

Aaah, Amen!
Praise God Who is so good, so infinitely good, that He became man and was born of the Virgin Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit, and deigned to let the world see His father as St. Joseph, representative of the Heavenly Father Who sent Him to save us!

Draw me; we will run!

The Fire of Divine Love, that is! 

We are finishing our Miraculous Novena of Grace to St. Francis Xavier, and not only did I manage to procure a Mass for you, but our good Padre JR said that Mass (for your intentions) with his bishop! Woohoo!

We have our last prayer (of the novena, but feel free to call on him any time) to finish, but then we are straight into our St. Joseph novena, hence the image of St. Andre Bessette above. If any of you think we are doing one too many novenas, I've got him nearby to box your ears! Can't you hear him (before your ears are boxed):

"How can we miss the novena to St. Joseph? He will answer everything!"

Yes, we already counted on St. Francis Xavier to do that, and I even enjoyed that St. Therese went to St. Joseph to support her petition to St. Francis Xavier (my idea is that she asked Jesus' papa not to go to Jesus Himself, but to go urge St. FX to make sure to take to little Jesus His little Therese's petition to do good after she died). 

But . . . around this time of year I stumble over St Andre, and then I just can't help myself. I have to follow his advice and turn to St. Joseph for everything! 

First, though, let's conclude our prayers to St. Francis Xavier. A friend texted me this morning with the reminder that St. Francis had asked us to go to confession and Holy Communion during our novena to him. If you haven't had a chance, please get to these great sacraments soon in his honor! He wants to know he is bringing you closer to Jesus, and there's no better way than these awesome sacraments, the first of which (confession) will prepare you to receive Our Lord and best friend, Almighty God Who took on our nature and then went further and found a way to let Himself be hidden in bread so we could eat His Body! Only God can come up with these things and actually make them happen! Hooray!

Dear St. Francis, we rejoice in your glorious missionary activity. With St. Therese, your co-patron of the missions, obtain for us the many favors we so badly need, and most of all the Divine Gift of peace and Jesus Himself. We have so many requests - too many to list - that we can only ask our angels to bring them to you and your angel so that you may present them before our infinitely merciful Triune God. May we live and die in the Catholic Faith your father and hero St. Ignatius set you on fire with. Bless all those who belong to your Society of Jesus; bless all the missionaries of the world; and please obtain many more missionaries from and for Jesus. We ask all this through Christ, our Lord, whom you loved so ardently and now see so joyfully. Amen.

*  *  *

And now, a moment of full disclosure . . . St Joseph's novena began yesterday! If, however, you were too busy finishing the St. Francis Xavier novena (or even finishing a Margarita - we don't judge here!), we have you covered. At the 11th hour quite literally, after my husband and I returned from a glorious basketball victory in which he played well for the second night in a row (yes, he is an athlete as well as a philosopher, and I am never sure which we should dedicate our lives to), I made sure to say my favorite St. Joseph prayer to kick off our novena. We are on our way to March 19th, feast of this dear Spouse of the Blessed Virgin and Foster Father of the Incarnate Word, and I have two prayers to present as options for your novena-ing.

First though, a word from today's special guest star, St. Andre Bessette. He is the humble Canadian Holy Cross brother who became the doorkeeper who built a shrine - we might almost say THE shrine to St. Joseph. He was a wonderworker (which "he"? St. Joseph, of course, but in this case through the prayers and advice of St. Andre, his devoted servant and friend) who filled this shrine (once it was eventually built) with ex votos - crutches and such given in thanks they were no longer needed!

So what can I tell you? How about a few quotes from today's fearless leader, St. Andre, to boost your intimacy with God and your love and gratitude and trust in St. Joseph, God's earthly dad. I'm going to quote from an ebook I have called "Go to Joseph: Do whatever he tells you" by Brian Kiczek, but I also want to highly recommend another book that includes a chapter on St. Andre, namely: They Walked with God: St. Bernadette Soubirous, St. John Vianney, St. Damien of Molokai, St. Andre Bessette, Bl. Solanus Casey by Diane Allen.

​Meanwhile, though, here is how Brian starts his chapter on "St. Joseph's Best Friend" -

"Saint Joseph is right next to you listening to your prayers and always ready to present them before the throne of His Son and to His Beloved Wife" - St. Andre

And then, one of my favorite quotes in the world because of its power to help us pray:

"When praying, one speaks to God as one speaks to a friend . . . When you say to God 'Our Father,' He has his ear right next to your lips. There is so little distance between Heaven and earth that God always hears us. Nothing but a thin veil separates us from God."

For those who want stories of miracles, there are SO many that St. Joseph has worked, especially with St. Andre's assistance. St. Andre would recommend rubbing a physical ailment with a blessed medal of St. Joseph, and then using St. Joseph's oil (which was vegetable oil he would burn, that is, have a burning wick in, before a statue of St. Joseph) to rub the ailment.

Well guess what? Yesterday I ordered some of St. Joseph's oil from the Oratory of St. Joseph in Montreal (the shrine built by the prayers and petitions and funds gathered over decades by St. Andre), and last night, even before it arrived (it doesn't bilocate, as far as I know, but depends on human agents and postal carriers, etc, to bring it across the miles), I found myself healing from a very frustrating side effect of a post-cancer (and keep cancer away) med that I'm taking per the good doctors' orders! I have been having a lot of wrist pain, and now it is nearly gone! Praise God and His good foster father St. Joseph!

So, without further ado, here are two prayers to St. Joseph. Choose one, choose both, say another, or just settle for conversation these next days leading us to his feast ("Hey, St. Joseph, help!" is another good prayer and has the simplicity Brother Andre would highly recommend!). As a bonus, one of my very, very favoritest prayers somehow snuck in (to St. Raphael), so I'll leave that too, for your use and enjoyment!

Prayer to St Joseph in Every Difficulty
With childlike confidence I present myself before you, O holy Joseph, faithful foster father of Jesus! I beg your compassionate intercession and support in this, my present necessity. . .

I firmly believe that you are most powerful near the throne of God, who chose you for the foster father of His well-beloved son, Jesus Christ. O blessed Saint, who saved that treasure of heaven, with His virginal mother, from the fury of His enemies, who with untiring industry supplied His earthly wants and with paternal care accompanied and protected Him in all the journeys of His childhood, take me also, for the love of Jesus, as your child. Assist me in my present difficulty with your prayers before God. The infinite goodness of Our Savior, who loved and honored you as His father upon earth, cannot refuse you any request now in heaven.

How many pious souls have sought help from you in their needs and have experienced, to their joy, how good, how ready you are to assist. How quickly you turn to those who call upon you with confidence! How powerful you are in bringing help and restoring joy to anxious and dejected hearts! Therefore, do I fly to you, O most worthy father of Jesus, most chaste spouse of Mary! Good St. Joseph, I pray you by the burning love you had for Jesus and Mary upon earth, console me in my distress and present my petition, through Jesus and Mary, before the throne of God! One word from you will move Him to assist my afflicted soul. Then most joyfully shall I praise Him and you, and most earnest shall be my thanksgiving!
Amen.

Prayer to St. Raphael
​O Raphael, lead us toward those we are waiting for, those who are waiting for us: Raphael, Angel of happy meeting, lead us by the hand toward those we are looking for. May all our movements be guided by your Light and transfigured with your joy.

Angel, guide of Tobias, lay the request we now address to you at the feet of Him on whose unveiled Face you are privileged to gaze. Lonely and tired, crushed by the separations and sorrows of life, we feel the need of calling you and of pleading for the protection of your wings, so that we may not be as strangers in the province of joy, all ignorant of the concerns of our country. Remember the weak, you who are strong, you whose home lies beyond the region of thunder, in a land that is always peaceful, always serene and bright with the resplendent glory of God.

Prayer from Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity to St. Joseph
O Glorious St. Joseph, 
I most humbly beg of you, 
by the love and care you had for Jesus and Mary,
to take my affairs, spriritual and temporal,
into your hands, 
direct them to the greater glory of God and obtain for me 
the grace to do His Holy and adorable will. Amen.

May St. Joseph assist us through his own fatherly care, through his petitions to sweet Jesus in his arms, and through the intercession of St. Andre Bessette, who is so happy to share his love of Joseph and Jesus and Mary with us now!

​Draw me; we will run!

"I asked for the grace of doing good after my death and now I'm sure to be answered, because one obtains through this novena all one desires."  - St. Therese to her sister, Marie of the Sacred Heart

Thirty years and nine months after St. Therese prayed the miraculous Novena of Grace to St. Francis Xavier, the pope who had beatified and canonized her, Pope Pius XI, named her co-patron of the missions on a par with St. Francis Xavier himself. Many have asked since then (it was December 14, 1927, so for 99 years people have been asking): Why?!

St. Therese says that for simple souls there can be no complicated ways. Ever in search of that elusive simplicity, I will ask her intercession now to explain what could get complicated, but needn't.

Simply speaking: That novena she had prayed to St. Francis Xavier was truly miraculous. She followed it up by asking St. Joseph on his feast a week later (March 19) to support that request to Saint Francis Xavier. How wonderful! We know St. Joseph is the man closest to Christ, and yet she asked humble Joseph to go to St. Francis Xavier and plead on her behalf that he answer her prayer, that he (St. FX) beg the Trinity to let her do good after her death.

It worked!

I recently helped publicize the book A Shower of Roses in order to make known Therese's awesome intercessory skills, but it didn't occur to me until today that we could go to the source and ask St. Francis Xavier (and then St. Joseph in support of our prayer) for all the miracles we need. 

Today I opened an email from a friend who sent me the history of this novena. Hooray for authentic Catholic history! Let's ask Dr. Warren Carroll to pray for us too! 

Here is what I've just discovered:

"The Miraculous Novena of Grace in honor of Francis Xavier is one of the oldest and most beloved novenas in the Catholic Church. It is traditionally prayed from March 4–12, ending on March 12, the anniversary of his canonization in 1622.
In Naples, Italy, in December of 1633, Father Marcello Mastrilli, S.J. was at the point of death. Then St. Francis Xavier appeared to him and, bidding him to renew a vow he had made to labor in Japan, said: 
 “All those who implore my help daily for nine consecutive days, from the 4th to the 12th of March included, and worthily receive the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist on one of the nine days, will experience my protection and may hope with entire assurance to obtain from God any grace they ask for the good of their souls and the glory of God.”
Then, Father Mastrilli arose, instantly cured!
In gratitude, Father Mastrilli promoted a special nine-day prayer to St. Francis Xavier. Numerous favors and miracles were reported, and devotion quickly spread throughout Europe and missionary territories."

Then in the online Archives of the Carmel of Lisieux, I just found this further encouragement:


"This Novena is called “of Grace”, because it was like a proverb that one infallibly obtained the grace one asked for. "One cannot - wrote a pious author in 1701 - recount in detail all the graces which were obtained during this novena wherever it was practiced... Experience has shown that there is no need, spiritual or temporal, in which one cannot and one should not even hope for prompt assistance when one has recourse to this great Saint, especially when making the novena in his honor. "

This Novena can be done at any time of the year, but preferably from March 4 to 12 (anniversary of the Canonization of the Apostle of India), or from November 25 to December 3, to prepare for the feast of the Holy.

And here are the prayers they offer. The first is his "collect," that is, the liturgical prayer said at his Mass and in his Divine Office:


Collect of Saint Francis Xavier

O God, who, through the preaching and miracles of Blessed Francis, willed to unite to your Church the nations of the Indies, be favorable to us, and grant us to imitate the examples of the virtues practiced by him whose glories we venerate. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord . . . Amen.


Prayer to recite every day of the Novena

O most lovable and charitable Saint, Saint Francis Xavier, I respectfully adore with you the Divine Majesty, and because I rejoice sovereignly in the singular gifts of grace which He has granted you in this life and in those of glory after death, I give Him very great thanks, and I beg you with all my heart to grant me, through your effective intercession, the principal grace to lead a holy life and to die holy.
Moreover, I ask you to obtain for me... (here one expresses the grace, either spiritual or temporal, that one solicits).
But if what I beg of you with entreaty is not for the glory of God and for the greater good of my soul, obtain for me, I pray you, what is most useful to one and all. Amen. Our Father, Ave, Gloria.

+  +  +

If you've been involved in any of our Miss Marcel's Novenas before, you know our Calvin-ball rules (inspired by Calvin and Hobbes, not our separated brother) - Just by reading this post, your intentions are included! Join any time! Forget days and rely on the goodness of Heaven (and hopefully us here) to remember you in our prayers! And most of all, toss in every intention you can think of. If you're like me, one miracle isn't going to be enough for ten minutes - I've got about a dozen I can think of straight off that are Big Fish that I'm hoping to catch - not people, but miracles for people I love, and there's no time like the present for a Miraculous Novena!

Also, I tend to like short prayers, so feel free to go with the one that came with my informative email alerting me to the novena and its history. It's short, it's sweet, and there's a chance we can manage it every day for 9 days. I thought this was The Prayer, but it turns out it was just a humble addition by the original author of that email. I like it!

"May St. Francis Xavier, whose heart was ablaze with divine love, intercede for us before the throne of God."

And if we want to get fancy, we can add the prayers above.

Meanwhile, the email (which was forwarded to me) came from a big organization that was offering to include your intentions at 3 Holy Masses. What an offer! I'm going to do my best to match it by getting 3 priests to offer Masses for all of our intentions. I will keep you posted!

And let's not forget the closing bit of prayer that little Therese found so helpful: 
St. Joseph, pray for us!

Little Flower, in this hour, show your power too, and with St. Joseph, support our prayer to St. Francis X. Give him a big hug for us too!

In case you missed it, here's a link to a wonderful sermon of St. Francis Xavier by another heroic Jesuit, Fr. Thomas Aquinas McGovern, S.J.

Draw me; we will run!

On this day, February 25th, in 1959, Jesus our Love sipped up Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face, O.C.D., that is, Celine Martin, the last remaining (in exile) sister and novice of St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. He sipped her up like a drop of dew, to use Therese's earlier spoken expression, and at last the two sisters who were inseparable (in life and death) were now completely united once again. It was 62 years after Therese had promised to come back quickly to take "the sweet echo of my soul" to Heaven, and Celine, having waited patiently and worked and prayed and loved faithfully, was 89.

On this day, February 25th, in 2016, Fr. Michael Gaitley, MIC came to speak at Thomas Aquinas College at the invitation of his friend Fr. Cornelius Buckley, and Fr. Gaitley gave out copies of 33 Days to Merciful Love. I read it that night, and it launched me on a Theresian journey that led to Something New with St. Therese: Her Eucharistic Miracle and my meeting her little spiritual brother, Servant of God Marcel Van.

Last night in the wee hours, I read three whole sentences (in French!) from Celine's autobiography, but then I remembered that until the Holy Spirit gives me infused French in a bigger little way, I might be able to read this awesome book online. And so it was! I found Celine's autobiography (or more officially: the Autobiography of Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face from 1909, when she was 40) available in English at the archives of the Lisieux Carmel right HERE!

It is marvelous! Here is a random quote about Celine and Therese's childhood - recounting more than one story I'd never known:

I ate a soup that Victoire never knew how to vary, an onion soup... For me, it was the worst you could imagine. Sometimes this soup, taken with bad grace, it must be admitted, made my heart ache, so they gave me a piece of chocolate to console me and I set out on my way as if I had been very valiant...

About this piece of chocolate here is a funny story. Every morning at 10 a.m. [at the Benedictine boarding/day school Celine and later Therese, too, attended] there was a moment of rest in the classrooms and they passed out wine, biscuits, jams, in a word, what each boarder provided herself. Otherwise everyone was only entitled to dry bread. As we were not spoiled, we did not bring these sweets and contented ourselves with dry bread when we were hungry. It must be said that I was sometimes a little ashamed, however there was nothing to do with it, but when you are a child you are easily impressed by these little things.

One day when I had received a precious piece of chocolate as the prize for my onion soup, I told Therese to come find me when the tray was passed, because we were going to share our booty. I had taken care to put the piece almost in pieces so that it had a great effect. However, as the portion still seemed meager, compared to that of the other boarders, I was very embarrassed. My little sister arrived at the rendezvous, and handing her her share, I said with indifference: "Here, Thérèse, take the crumbs!" Therese took indeed the crumbs she knew were not the crumbs at all but almost the whole piece. When we were alone we had a good laugh. But this would not be lost, for this "Here, Thérèse, take the crumbs!" followed us to the Carmel where it made us laugh until we cried again.
​
*  *  *

And so, on this day, February 25, 2026, I invite you to read to your heart's content (I hope you have a chance to read some of Celine's autobiography, which is truly marvelous), and I personally dispense you from any Lenten fasting that involves chocolate. In honor of Therese's dear sister's little feast, I hope you'll eat or drink some, and offer it to Jesus with a big smile!

Also, I invite you to look. I've written before about Celine's (Sister Genevieve's) painting of the Holy Face HERE. It is a story worth telling and retelling, reading and re-reading. I hope you can click over, but in case you can't, I'll repost the painting now. After all, it is Lent, which means More Jesus!

​Draw me, we will run!!

​Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd with a Sheep by Jacek Polakiewicz

"With desire I have desired to share this Pasch with you . . . "

I can echo our Savior's words and say, "With desire I have desired to share this post with you," and I mean it with all my heart. It has been more than a month since . . . habit nearly compels me to say, "since my last confession," but wait! My angel comes to assist me and what I mean to say is that it's been more than a month since my last musings here, but oh, what a month it has been . . . 

The most momentous thing to have occurred since I last wrote is that Jesus, our Good Shepherd, has made off with two of his favorite sheep. They were sheep dressed in young men's clothing, and their loss is so deeply felt in my community. . . 

The first lived a public life as the middle child in a large Catholic family near us. I could say a lot, but it has been said much more perfectly in an obituary by his parents HERE and in a eulogy given after his funeral Mass by his older brother HERE (you can hear the eulogy at about 22 minutes into the video).

I will add that since Joe's entrance into eternal life, I've been asking for a lot of things through his intercession, and I know I'm not the only one. So far I'm up to three huge miracles through Joe's intercession, and counting, and these answers to longstanding difficult situations have come quickly upon "asking Joe," after years of asking other favorite intercessors for heavenly aid (they mostly ignored me, no doubt waiting for Joe to save the day when he showed up where they are).

When I told his dad that I've been advising others to ask Joe too, he laughed and told me that a few years ago one of Joe's brothers had a family newspaper, and in every issue there was an advice column written by Joe. Only the title wasn't "Ask Joe," but rather "Don't ask Joe"! The warning was apt because Joe would give hilariously bad advice, but for the record, he's making up for it now with the favors he's obtaining.

The second dear sheep clutched close to our Savior's Heart was a more private soul named Max M. He is also dearly missed, and I ask you to pray for Joe and Max to be where I am confident they are, with Our Lord, and also to ask them both, Joe and Max, for their good words in Jesus' ear so that you too may obtain the graces for which you long, the miracles for which you have been praying.

And now Lent is upon us. My battle cry is, "Be not afraid! Lent is simply More Jesus!" He has been longing for us, longing to share this Lenten time with us, and His graces have been abundant.

I would like to share two that are easy to obtain and brilliant in their effects:

1. You can gain a plenary indulgence on the Fridays of Lent by saying the Prayer before a Crucifix (before a crucifix!) after Communion. If you have received Communion today already, it is "after Communion," and if you have yet to go to Mass, perhaps this will inspire you to free a soul after Communion, liberating one of those beloved ones in purgatory to join Jesus and the Saints and Angels in Heaven! How powerful Jesus makes us by giving us the ability to work with Him, to enter into His passion and join our own with it . . . to save souls! Here is a crucifix, and here is the prayer:

Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus,
while before Thy face I humbly kneel,
and with burning soul I pray and beseech Thee
to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity,
true contrition for my sins, and a firm purpose of amendment;
while I contemplate with great love and tender pity Thy five wounds,
pondering over them within me,
having in mind the words which David Thy prophet said of Thee, my Jesus:
"They have pierced my hands and my feet; they have numbered all my bones."
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be for the Holy Father's intentions

+ + +

The other "usual conditions" (besides prayers for the Holy Father's intentions) for gaining a plenary indulgence are Holy Communion and Confession. The Confession can be within 20 days before or after the Act gaining the indulgence, and one Confession suffices for every plenary indulgence gained within the 20 days (though you can only gain one a day). One Eucharistic Communion is needed per plenary indulgence. Finally, you need to be detached from sin, and you can ask the Holy Spirit to so detach you if you are afraid you aren't there yet. He will do so, if only for the time needed to gain this great grace!

So what does a plenary indulgence do? It wipes out all temporal punishment due to sin for you or for a soul in purgatory. That is, even after our sins are forgiven, we owe a debt and pay it and get purified from the effects of the sin by suffering in this life or the next (in purgatory). But a plenary indulgence makes your soul like that of a newly baptized babe or convert - entirely purified and ready to see God! How awesome is that? Very awesome indeed. You can apply this very indulgent purification to your own soul, or - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - a soul in purgatory. What a great act of love and "alms" to give in Lent! This is even more amazing than saving a soul from suffering in this life, though we highly recommend that too. (And we cannot offer a plenary indulgence for another living person, but we can offer for the deceased.)

+ + +

2. At last, though, I come to what I have most desired to share with you today, and this brings us to the 33 days and more. Isn't Lent usually 40 days? Yes, but within Lent there are 33 days, and if you start counting today, the next 33 will bring us to the great Feast of the Incarnation, commonly known too as the Annunciation on March 25, when Mary conceived Jesus in her womb nine months before Christmas!

Have you ever consecrated yourself to Jesus through Mary?

St. Louis Marie de Montfort teaches that this is the shortest, easiest, most direct way to happiness and Heaven. I agree! St. Therese, our patroness, has stolen his words (perhaps and likely unknowingly) when she was looking for an easier way to Heaven and Sainthood than we see in the lives of the great saints.

Speaking of which, yesterday was the 41st anniversary of the birth into eternal life of our teacher and friend, Fr. Thomas Aquinas McGovern, S.J. He wrote sermons that I got to edit for publication, and one of my favorites is about the spectacular St. Francis Xavier. You can find this sermon - short and easy and direct! - HERE, and it will show you what I mean about the Great Saints!

Sure enough, St. Therese's Little Way to sanctity and Heaven worked well - so well that she is now co-patroness of the Missions on a par with St. Francis Xavier!

But getting back to St. Louis de Montfort's easy way, it is nothing other than giving ourselves into the maternal care of our Heavenly Mother Mary so that she can bring us to Jesus, Who is also in her loving arms. And talk about easy - I absolutely love Fr. Michael Gaitley's 33 Days to Morning Glory book which leads us through a preparation "retreat" (short and sweet readings each day with a one line prayer to ponder on our way to total consecration) and adds to St. Louis' wisdom the insights of St. Max Kolbe, St. Mother Teresa, and Pope St. John Paul II on Mary and how to give ourselves to Jesus through her. 

Would you like to consecrate or renew your consecration with me this Lent? I'm giving you the link to the kindle edition of the book so you can get it for only $6.89 on whatever device you're using to read this post, in case you don't have the book already and want to start with me today. 

I'll post my musings as we go and as I'm able, and I'll start today with this line that struck me in the introduction:

"One of the greatest aspects of being consecrated to Mary is that she's such a gentle mother. She makes the lessons of the Cross into something sweet, and she pours her motherly love and solace into our every wound."

I hope you'll join me!

​Draw me; we will run!!!

Adoration of the Magi from the Strozzi Altarpiece (1423) by Gentile da Fabriano (1370-1427)
Photos taken in the Uffizi Gallery, March 12, 2025 by Miss Marcel

"Three mysteries mark this holy day: today the star leads the Magi to the infant Christ; today water is changed into wine for the wedding feast; today Christ wills to be baptized by John in the river Jordan to bring us salvation." (Divine Office, Epiphany, antiphon for Magnificat)

"We keep this day holy in honor of three miracles: this day a star led the Wise Men to the manger; this day water was turned into wine at the marriage feast; this day Christ willed to be baptized by John in the Jordan for our salvation; alleluia." (Divine Office, Epiphany, second vespers antiphon at the Magnificat; alternate translation)

*    *     *

This Sunday past, January 4, 2026, my family and some dear friends celebrated an amazing three fold mystery and miracle:

On the Feast of the Epiphany (in the new calendar), our two week old grandson Anthony Michael was baptized into the Holy Roman Catholic Church on the first anniversary of his parent's wedding.

How marvelous our Trinitarian God is, letting a little child contain in his tiny self the three-fold mystery of this great feast! And yet, that is what happened two thousand (and change) years ago in order that our salvation might be procured - the salvation of this tiny baby we are marveling at in our house this Christmastide, the salvation from the Tiny Babe of Bethlehem which the whole world is invited to marvel at this Christmastide and eternally.

I love the liturgical calendar, and I have to say that although I am often frustrated by the multiplicity of calendars extant in the Church and in the world, nonetheless, I am delighted - and it is much more to the joy of Our Savior that we be delighted than that we be frustrated - absolutely gobsmacked that We Get to Celebrate Some of Our Magnificent Feasts Twice!

Today, for instance, is Ephiphany. As was this past Sunday.
Why waste time asking how? or why?
The why is easy: for our delectation, our sanctification, our salvation, or more simply for Our Joy!
As to the how, well in my neck of the woods, on Sunday it was Epiphany.
And today, by the great condescension of Our Lord who willed to be adored by three Wise Men, it is Epiphany again, and I get to go (if He allows) to a Missa Cantata (extraordinary form) celebrated in the same chapel where I went to Sunday's Mass of Ephiphany (in the ordinary form).

If you are befuddled, well, this is nothing new in my world!

And one might consider that while the original great condescension of Our Lord, that of being born a sweet babe in Bethlehem, actually took place on December 25th (I wish I could give you the reasons we know this is true, but for now I take it from authority and the wonderful recent sermon of a priest learned in this matter), this next great condescension of allowing Himself to be approached and adored by the Magi was perhaps on a day a year or two and twelve days after the first Christmas: hence Herod's evil plot to kill all males 2 years old and younger in Bethlehem and its environs. 

Which brings us back to our glorious photos of the event which I gladly share with you at the top of this post. Mysteriously, miraculously, I took these last March, but clearly the event they record in a nearly exact reproduction happened long, long ago, and yet not so long ago as the first Christmas. Look at little Jesus - I can now attest, through recent joyful experience of adoring a newborn, that this is no newborn little Jesus blessing the first Wise Man! No, Jesus is older than brand new . . . so you see that we here at Miss Marcel's Musings use every possible documentary evidence for our theological and liturgical pronouncements!

Would it be out of place to take this moment to invite you to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence? When I said just now that "Mysteriously, miraculously, I took these last March," I did mean, quite literally, that my being there - at the Uffizi in Florence - was mysterious and miraculous. I had been there when I was eighteen, lucky girl that I am, and even finding myself again in Florence forty-two years later was mysterious and miraculous enough, but then I didn't plan to return to the Uffizi, thinking it was more than enough to see San Marco and Santa Maria Novella and get my fill of Blessed Fra Angelico (whom I'd missed the first time around). But I have the most wonderful daughter in law in the world, and she took my son to the Uffizi on this day which was the first anniversary or so of their first date (these two seem always to be having first anniversaries, but they are so generous at sharing them that none of us can complain!), and then he, being one of the two most wonderful sons in the world, insisted on taking me . . . which meant that the Holy Spirit had a clear path to guide me to this painting which I don't remember having seen on my first visit in 1983, but which I do remember piecing together in a gorgeous jigsaw puzzle more than once and admiring in wondrous Christmas cards I've received over the years . . . 

Did you know that there are about 6,000 paintings in the Uffizi gallery?
Our January 1st post featured one (scroll down to see it again!) - one that I saw and took a picture of and have returned to again and again in the last months to revive my love and union with Jesus and Mary and the angels . . . 

And I have a great memory of Raphael's Madonna of the Goldfinch arresting my exit from the Uffizi when I'd seen about 200 paintings (of the 6,000) and didn't think I could manage even one more - ah, but that's what most visitors think, and then God bless those curators or museum designers or whoever is responsible for being His instrument in placing the Madonna of the Goldfinch and adorable little Jesus (standing on her foot) and His cousin St. John right where You Just Can't Miss them as you are heading down the one staircase that will take you back down to the exit . . . (I'll see if we can't put this trio at the bottom of our post, just to brighten your day like they have brightened mine so many times before and after that happy day at the museum).

But I digress, as one is apt to do among such uncountable, unseeable, undeserved mysteries and miracles . . . so let me attempt to get back to this one, crazy, fun painting I want you to see for yourself - at least virtually, but as your tour-guide I will point out two more astounding things.

First, we saw that Jesus is not an infant.
Second, note with me (as I only noticed today as I write) that the painter's first name is Gentile!
What mysteries of Providence were at work in this name?
And third - the wonder that I beheld when I stood rapt in awe before this painting I've loved in replicas for years but never thought of seeing face to face - please take a moment to check out the third photo above, the one featuring the dog (which looks to me like a greyhound).

The collar on the dog, and I'm pleased to say I took this picture just so I could show you (and wonder of wonders it is visible) - the collar on the dog is actually not merely painted on but attached to the painting in 3-D!

I wish I had a better grasp of art or more time to look up the correct way to express this, but the long and short of it is that as I stood marveling at this magnificent painting, and as I found myself able at last to look at the details in their original (very large) proportions, I noticed that this dog's collar was quite a sight to behold. I would have loved to touch it, but touching masterpieces is typically frowned upon in European galleries, so I simply gazed in amazement. Who knew?

Well now I did, and now you do!

And if there weren't two Epiphanies in my world, I never would have had the time to tell you about the dog's collar and what it means. . . 

It means that He has many more mysteries and miracles in store for you in 2026!
Will you find yourself in Florence?

I have to confess to you that on January 6th last year, recovering from the Most Beautiful Wedding Ever and calling the doctor to stall my next chemo because I was a bit tired from all the rejoicing, the last thing I suspected was that in 70 days or so I'd find myself in Florence (not to mention Milan, Turin, Padua, Rome, and Castel Gandolfo!).

The Holy Spirit, that brilliant 3rd Person of the Blessed Trinity and our dear Comforter and Guide to Truth (and Beauty), somehow brought me to the Adoration of the Magi when that was the last thing I expected or planned . . . and I wonder where He will bring us all this year?

Yes, if there's one thing I appreciate, it's a few minutes here and there to ponder the miracles and mysteries that He pours upon us as generously as He's filled the beaches with sand and the sky with stars . . . 
So join me today in celebrating another Epiphany. Holy Mother Church can't seem to help Herself from spoiling us rotten, and that makes it our joyful duty to let her. 

As I left the Uffizi, or rather as I intended to leave, when Our Blessed Mother stopped me, she stopped me good. I was drawn like a moth to a flame from the doorway of this room-at-the-top-of-the-stairs into her sweet blue-mantled presence. I stood and looked and looked and looked. I gazed, I pondered, I smiled, and I may have laughed because I realized that everything I loved was in that picture: a book, a flower, a stream, some clouds, a bird, Blessed Mother and hilarious little Jesus stepping on her foot as He had been stepping on mine the whole wonderful European journey . . . 

I pray that your year will be filled with all the things you love, and that you'll learn to love more things, and that Our Lord will surprise you whether He steps on your foot or simply invites you into His embrace. Happy Epiphany and may His revelations to your dear heart be many!

​Draw me; we will run!