The Christian Wife

"The Christian wife must be a woman of sound piety towards God, an angel of peace in the family, dignified and pleasant towards others." - St. Padre Pio

Bedtime Story by Arthur John Elsley 

The Four Temperants

This is an informative video on the four temperaments and how they relate to your predominant fault.  If the start seems a bit dry, stay with it because it really picks up.

In my family, we have all four temperaments  :)

Reason of Our Existence

"The woman is the heart of the home.  Let us pray that we women realise the reason of our existence:  to love and be loved and through this love become instruments of peace in this world" - Mother Teresa

Boris Kustodiev,  On the Terrace, 1906

Mary

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your descendants and her Descendant. He will crush your head, and you will bruise His heel.”. - Genesis 3:15

"Hail full of grace.  The Lord is with thee.  Blessed art thou amongst women" - Angel to Mary, Luke 1:26

"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb" - Elizabeth to Mary, Luke 1:42

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden.  Henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed."  - Luke 1:46

"Do whatever He tells you," - John 2:5

"Behold your mother," - John 19:26

Madonna and Child with St. Anne by Caravaggio

The Little Flower

St. Therese of Lisieux - The Little Flower

'Therese intensely disliked one of her fellow nuns, ...  whom Therese described, without identifying her, as "a Sister who has the faculty of displeasing me in everything, in her ways, her words, her character."  Instead of avoiding her, Theresa sought out this nun at every turn and treated her "as if I loved her best of all" - so successfully that this sister once asked Therese, "Would you tell me ... what attracts you so much toward me; every time you look at me, I see your smile?".
'...  It's a little thing, of course, but anyone who has ever suffered from a whiny coworker, a narcissistic roommate, or interfering in-laws can appreciate the heavenly virtue that befriending such a person would require.'  -  The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

The Silent Life  by Dora Noyes

Silence

"The librarian regarded her hostess with interest.  The editor of the San Ireneo Gazette had the indefinable charm of someone who said little but thought much.  Miss Prim had always felt that such people were at a marked advantage.  They never said anything tactless, never spouted nonsense, never had cause to regret their words or justify themselves.  She had always tried to behave like this, tried not to say anything that might hurt other people or herself, but it wasn't easy." - The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera

"Afternoon Tea" by William Henry Margetson 1861-1940

Smile

“When something painful or disagreeable happens to me, instead of a melancholy look, I answer by a smile. At first I did not always succeed, but now it has become a habit which I am glad to have acquired.” 
― Thérèse de Lisieux, Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux

A Young Girl Writing a Letter - Etienne Adolphe Piot

Fr. Gregory Jordan, SJ, RIP

Fr. Gregory Jordan SJ, RIP

Please pray for Fr Jordan who died today.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, 
and let perpetual light shine upon him. 
May he rest in peace.

Amen.

Devil of a Job - Interview with an Exorcist (Fr. Jordan)

Feminine Wives

"The old critics assumed that because Lady Macbeth obviously ruled her husband she must have been a masculine woman.  The whole inference of course is false.  Masculine women may rule the Borough Council, but they never rule their husbands.  The women who rule their husbands are the feminine women." Brave New Family by G.K. Chesterton

Love

"Spread love everywhere you go: First of all in your own house... let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting." - Blessed Mother Teresa

Mother and Daughter by George Goodwin Kilburne

Civilized Pleasures

"'How is it that everyone here is such a good host - always coming up with delicious sweets, cakes and roast meats, a warm fire and good company?'

'Civilized pleasures from an earlier era, Prudencia.'" - The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera

Tasha Tudor

Christian Home

"Every Christian home should be a haven of peace and serenity.  In spite of the small frustrations of daily life, an atmosphere of profound and sincere affection should reign there together with a deep rooted calm, which is the result of authentic faith put into practice." - St. Josemaria Escriva

"Mother Reading With Two Girls" by Lee Lufkin Kaula

Noble

“We become like that which we love. If we love what is base, we become base; but if we love what is noble, we become noble.” 
― Fulton J. Sheen, Life Is Worth Living

Emile Munier (1840-1895)

Compost

Just watched a Vasili's Garden on Channel 31 (for those in Australia) and found out how to recognise the best soil.  Just pick up a handful, clench your fist, open your fist flat, and the dirt should have compacted.  Then poke the dirt with a finger on your other hand and the dirt should crumble.

Another thing I've recently learnt, is how to compost easily.  I've had a tumble compost thingy for years and it's been a waste of time and energy.  However, I now know how to trench compost.  I gather all the kitchen scraps over a week/two weeks in a bowl in the fridge, put it through the blender, dig a hole in my veggie patch and put the scraps in and cover it up with dirt.  My veggie patch has nothing growing in it at the moment.  I did this for the first time three weeks ago and just turned over the ground and only the egg shells are intact (next time I'll crush the egg shell with the veggies).  The next time, I dug a little further along and added the compost.  I don't add meat, dairy or onions.

I did find, however, fat wriggly worms that are great for my garden.

My mother said that when she was growing up, they lived in the country and had no rubbish collection so everything had to be composted.  Her father had three composts going at the same time.

Brighter Garden - Tasha Tudor's illustrated book of Emily Dickinson poems.

St. Michael

St. Michael the Archangel, 

defend us in battle. 

Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. 

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, 

and do thou, 

O Prince of the heavenly hosts, 

by the power of God, 

thrust into hell Satan, 

and all the evil spirits, 

who prowl about the world 

seeking the ruin of souls. Amen..

Love Our Neighbour

"Do not waste time deciding whether you love your neighbour; act as if you did.  As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets.  When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him." -  A Year with C.S. Lewis by C.S. Lewis

The Charitable Gift-Ferdinand Georg Waldmuller

Heads and Hearts

"The man is the head of the house, while the woman is the heart of the house." - Brave New Family by G.K. Chesterton

Norman Rockwell

Good Friday

Isaiah 53:

"Who has given credence to what we have heard? And who has seen in it a revelation of Yahweh's arm?

2 Like a sapling he grew up before him, like a root in arid ground. He had no form or charm to attract us, no beauty to win our hearts;

3 he was despised, the lowest of men, a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering, one from whom, as it were, we averted our gaze, despised, for whom we had no regard.

4 Yet ours were the sufferings he was bearing, ours the sorrows he was carrying, while we thought of him as someone being punished and struck with affliction by God;

5 whereas he was being wounded for our rebellions, crushed because of our guilt; the punishment reconciling us fell on him, and we have been healed by his bruises.

6 We had all gone astray like sheep, each taking his own way, and Yahweh brought the acts of rebellion of all of us to bear on him.

7 Ill-treated and afflicted, he never opened his mouth, like a lamb led to the slaughter-house, like a sheep dumb before its shearers he never opened his mouth.

8 Forcibly, after sentence, he was taken. Which of his contemporaries was concerned at his having been cut off from the land of the living, at his having been struck dead for his people's rebellion?

9 He was given a grave with the wicked, and his tomb is with the rich, although he had done no violence, had spoken no deceit.

10 It was Yahweh's good pleasure to crush him with pain; if he gives his life is a sin offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his life, and through him Yahweh's good pleasure will be done.

11 After the ordeal he has endured, he will see the light and be content. By his knowledge, the upright one, my servant will justify many by taking their guilt on himself.

12 Hence I shall give him a portion with the many, and he will share the booty with the mighty, for having exposed himself to death and for being counted as one of the rebellious, whereas he was bearing the sin of many and interceding for the rebellious."

Santo Cristo de la Universidad de Córdoba, Juan Manuel Miñarro Feito conforme o Cristo do Santo Sudário

Mornings

When I wake up in the morning, I usually say good morning to God.  After that, I get dressed, wash my face, quickly put on some tinted moisturiser, mascara and brush my hair.  It only takes five minutes but then I feel that I'm ready for the rest of the day.

Lady Lilith by Rossetti

Mondays

"A well cared-for, organised, beautiful home helps to keep life humming along so much more smoothly and happily, leaving space for fun, relaxation and friends." - French Ties.  Love, Life & Recipes by Jane Webster

The Wind in the Willows - Inga Moore

Thursday

"But apart from the accepted will of God, nothing has any lasting reality.  So if God wills that you should be bowed over the sink instead of over the pew in your favourite church, then washing dishes is for you, now, the most perfect thing that you can possibly do." - Holiness for Housewives by Dom Hubert Van Zeller

The Kitchenmaid (1720) by Giuseppe Maria Crespi

Women

"Woman must be a cook, but not a competitive cook, a house-school-mistress, but not a competitive school-mistress, a house decorator, but not a competitive house decorator, a dress maker but not a competitive dress maker.  She should have not one trade but twenty hobbies, she, unlike the man, may develop all her second bests...  Women were not kept at home in order to keep them narrow; on the the contrary, they were kept at home in order to keep them broad." -  Brave New Family by G. K. Chesterton

Pride

'Pride is at the bottom of all worldliness:  that desire that drives people to attain more and more things, more and more honour, more and more glory, of having the whole world revolve around themselves.  Disobedience, rudeness, the lack of compassion toward our neighbour, all of this is pride.  Selfishness is an effect of pride.'  - Mother Angelica's Little Book of Life Lessons and Everyday Spirituality

S. Saelig Gallagher - The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde

Stay With Me

Stay With Me, Lord - Prayer by Padre Pio

Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You.

Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life, and without You, I am without fervour.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light, and without You, I am in darkness.

Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will.

Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You.

Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You very much, and always be in Your company.

Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You.

Stay with me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is, I wish it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of Love.

Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close, and life passes, death, judgement, eternity approaches. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You. It is getting late and death approaches. I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile!

Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers, I need You.

Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.

Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to You, if not by Communion, at least by grace and love.

Stay with me, Jesus, I do not ask for divine consolation, because I do not merit it, but, the gift of Your Presence, oh yes, I ask this of You!

Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for. Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.

With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity.   Amen

Thoughts

"Character is both formed and influenced in the world of your thoughts.  If you are master in your thoughts, you are master everywhere.  If you have learned to control your thoughts, you have yourself completely under control.  If you have a kind heart, your words and deeds will also be kind.  If you fostered more kind thoughts, you would necessarily be richer also in kind deeds.  It must, therefore, be very important to cultivate kind thoughts." - The Hidden Power of Kindness by Lawrence G. Lovasik.

Gossip

'To gossip means to talk needlessly about the faults and failings of others and even to invent such faults and failings where none exist.  To gossip means to watch closely the conduct of one's neighbour and to indulge in unwarranted criticism of his motives and in rash judgement as to the nature of his sins.
'Gossip is the most common of all sins of the tongue.  Although often called harmless, it is in fact rarely so because it hits at character...
'Gossip is drawing a wrong picture or drawing a picture you have no right to draw.  Careless gossip is no to be tossed off light.  God's command is "Thou shalt not bear false witness."...
'Gossip may also give the right picture and still be gossip because it is drawn for those who have no right to see it." - The Hidden Power of Kindness  by Lawrence G. Lovasik

Qualities

'Go around the room and pick out three beautiful qualities in each member of your family.  We do that in the monastery.  The sisters will say, "Mother, you're generous, understanding and loving."  I say, "I can buy that."  Then I began to wonder.  I think, "Angelica, if you are all these beautiful things, how come you're impatient and have a hot temper?"  And I began to reason, and I found that I am generous by nature, with things and my talent, but I was not generous with my time.  If a sister came up to me and I was in a hurry, I would say, "What are you bugging me now with this trite little thing for?"
'God had already planted into my heart a tool:  generosity.  When I worked on being more generous, that thing that I already am, I suddenly become patient.  So point out the virtues of your family members - build on those, and the rest will fall away.'  Mother Angelica's Little Book of Life Lessons and Everyday Spirituality

Working Women

"I have never understood myself how this superstition arose: the notion that a woman plays a lowly part in the home and a loftier part outside the home...  Most work done in the outer world is pretty mechanical work; some of it is decidedly dirty work.  There seems no possible sense in which it is intrinsically superior to domestic work." - Brave New Family by G.K. Chesterton

Morgan Weistling 

Mothers

"How can it be a large career to tell other people's children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe?" - Brave New Family by G.K. Chesterton

Mother Reading With Two Girls by Lee Lufkin Kaula

Over Population

"The answer to anyone who talks about the surplus population is to ask him whether he is the surplus population, or if he is not, how he knows he is not." - Introduction to A Christmas Carol

Gaetano Bellei (1857 – 1922, Italian)

Saturday

"You aspire to great things, begin with little ones," - St. Augstine

Friday

"All the just are to rise in glory, but each one in his own degree of perfection.  'For, one is the glory of the sun, another the glory of the moon, and another the glory of the stars.  For stars differeth from star in glory.  So, also, in the resurrection of the dead.'  ... it follows that the more completely we have mortified our inordinate passions, and made our life conformable to that of Jesus Christ, the more also of personal beauty and splendour shall we possess in Heaven; and consequently, the more of Heaven's happiness shall we enjoy.
"These attributes of personal beauty and perfection and elevation to a high position in Heaven, are the very marks by which we shall immediately recognise those who have been most holy, and who have done most for God in this world."  Fr. J. Boudreau, The Happiness of Heaven

Thusday .

"When we do something we dislike,  let us say to God, "My God, I offer You this in honour of the moment when You died for me." - St. John Vianney

Monday

"See, therefore, that you endeavour to clothe your soul with those virtues which befit a spouse of Jesus Christ. Love God above all things. Be extremely charitable to all. Be humble, modest, reserved. Lead a life of mortification, silence and prayer." Fr. J. Boudreau, The Happiness of Heaven

Procession of Young Girls on Confirmation Day, L'hopital de Beaune, 1906 by Geoffroy, Henri Jules Jean

Today, have you prayed, performed a work of charity, practised self denial, read your Bible?

St. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry His cross

The Happiness of Heaven

I am reading a wonderful book by Fr. Boudreau, The Happiness of Heaven. Here's an excerpt. "What are the personal attributes or qualities in others that make our social intercourse with them a pleasure?... These are virtue, learning, beauty, refinement, mutual love, and the ties of kindred. ... Neither beauty, nor learning, note any other endowment can replace virtue, while it alone can, to a great extent, supply all other deficiencies. ... When we meet with one who is evidently a man of God, one whose every word is instinct with the spirit of God, whose whole exterior betokens the intimate union of his soul with God, in whose very countenance the beauty of angelical purity shines forth, we deem it a happiness to spend a few moments in his society. The pleasures enjoyed in his company are not only exquisite - they are also sanctifying."

"The ordinary acts we practice everyday at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest" St. Thomas More

Jessie Willcox Smith

"To a great extent the level of any civilization is the level of its womanhood. When a man loves a woman, he has to become worthy of her. The higher her virtue, the more her character, the more devoted she is to truth, justice, goodness, the more a man has to aspire to be worthy of her. The history of civilization could actually be written in terms of the level of its women." -Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen