Happy Birthday Mother Mary

Today, September 8th, the Catholic Church celebrates the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is exactly 9 months after the celebration of her Immaculate Conception.  What a joyous day!  Personally, I wish it was celebrated by the whole world with as much joy as Christmas (or at least with as much enthusiasm as St. Patrick's day); after all, Mary had (and continues to have) such an important role in the history of salvation.  But there I go being a crazy Catholic again! :} Anyway, it is on feast days like today that I just love being Catholic because I am reminded of the blessings God continues to give us through the saints---especially His Blessed Mother who intercedes for us constantly, loves us unconditionally, and longs to guide us closer to her Son so that all will be saved.  How I wish the whole world knew how much she loves us!  I am reminded of one of Mary's messages in Medjugorje when she said:  "If you knew how much I, your mother, love you, you would cry for joy."  And this message was confirmed in my heart when I was able to watch the visionary Mirijana have her apparition in Medjugorje a few summers ago...  As soon as the Blessed Mother appeared, Mirajana's whole countenance changed.  She was completely overcome with pure joy and tears silently slipped down her cheeks as she gazed at Our Lady and conversed with her.  Just seeing Mirijana's joy made me start to cry for joy!  How blessed we are to be loved so much by God our Father and Mary our heavenly Mother!  I pray for the grace to be able to love them back as much as my little heart is capable of!

The visionary Mirjana is 4th in from the right wearing a coral/pink shirt. 

Our tour group was blessed to have a private meeting with her to hear her testimony and ask her questions.  She seemed so full of peace and joy.  I recently read her autobiography called "My Heart with Triumph", which describes the history of the apparitions in Medjugorje and how they affected her personally. It was very inspiring and I highly recommend it!

Here is the latest message from Our Lady to Mirjana on September 2nd, 2017:

"Dear children, who could speak to you about the love and the pain of my Son better than I? I lived with Him; I suffered with Him. Living the earthly life I felt pain because I was a mother. My Son loved the thoughts and the works of the Heavenly Father, the true God. And, as He said to me, He came to redeem you. I hid my pain through love, but you, my children, you have numerous questions. You do not comprehend pain. You do not comprehend that through the love of God you need to accept pain and endure it. Every human being will experience it to a lesser or greater measure. But with peace in the soul and in a state of grace, hope exists; this is my Son, God, born of God. His words are the seed of eternal life. Sown in good souls it brings numerous fruits. My Son bore the pain because He took your sins upon Himself. Therefore, you, my children, apostles of my love, you who suffer, know that your pain will become light and glory. My children, while you are enduring pain, while you are suffering, Heaven enters in you and you give a piece of Heaven and much hope to all those around you. Thank you."​

Here is a fun recipe to make for this special Marian Feast day:  Rose-Shaped Cinnamon Rolls.  I have heard that every time we pray the rosary (which comes from the word "rosarium" which means rose garden or garland of roses) we are giving Mary a beautiful garland of roses.  Our family loves these rolls, and I hope yours does too!  They do take a bit of time and work, but they are SO worth it!  You could even pray a rosary while you do it, and then you'd be giving a gift to Our Lady AND your family :)

Sweet Roll Dough

1 pkg. dry yeast
½ c. warm water
1/2 c. lukewarm milk (scalded then cooled)
1/3 c. butter, margarine or shortening
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
3 ½ to 4 c. flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Stir in milk sugar, butter, salt, egg, and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in warm place until double, about 1 ½ hours.

Cinnamon Filling
2 T. butter, melted
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. cinnamon 

Mix until all sugar and cinnamon is moistened. 

Make 4 small balls (golf ball size) of dough and roll them out into 3 1/2 inch diameter circles. Overlap dough circles as shown. Sprinkle some of the cinnamon sugar mixture across middle, leaving curved edges clear. 

Roll circles up into rolls as shown. You should end up with rolled dough with both ends fluted. Cut roll in half. 

Place dough in greased muffin tins. Cut/flat end should be down and the pretty, fluted/curved end up. 

Let rise until double (30-40 minutes). Bake in 350 degree oven 12-15 minutes. 

I found this recipe at the Catholic Cuisine website:  http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2015/07/st-elizabeth-rose-bread.html

Special Feast Days Call For Special Recipes

This weekend is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes, our heavenly mother who is the patron saint of all those suffering from illness of any kind.  I believe that through her powerful intercession, we can confidently place into her hands all of our intentions and all of our illnesses of body, mind, or soul, trusting that she will bring them to her Son, the Divine Physician, for miraculous healing.  The love that radiated from Our Lady’s face when she appeared to St. Bernadette caused the French maiden to cry tears of joy. May Our Lady wrap all of us in that same radiant love, so that we, too, may experience tears of joy and be open to all of the healing graces God wants to pour into our hearts today—and every day.

Awhile back, I was asked to write an article about the story of Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette.  So, on this special feast day, I will share the story with you, for I believe it can still can speak to our hearts in the 21st century if we take time to ponder its message.

Bernadette Soubirous was a 14-year-old girl of poor health, poor status, and poor education when her ordinary life was touched by the extraordinary.  Bernadette lived in Lourdes, France and had a difficult childhood.  Her family was so poor that they were forced to live in the town's damp and abandoned prison, which the townsfolk fittingly nicknamed "The Dungeon."  Her father, Francois, lost his job as the town miller and spent most of his life doing odd jobs that did not pay well.  This meant that Louise, Bernadette's mother, had to work extra hard to support her 4 children, and Bernadette, as the oldest child, did much of the work raising her younger siblings while her parents tried to make ends meet.  During these difficult times, it is said that Bernadette served joyfully and obediently, rather than focusing on her own woes.  

On February 11, 1858, while she was gathering firewood with her sister and a friend, "the beautiful lady," as Bernadette called Our Lady for many months, first appeared to her in the rocky grotto called Massabielle.  She was dressed in a shining white gown with a blue sash around her waist and two yellow roses resting upon her bare feet.  It is interesting to note that this grotto was once a pagan worship site, and later, it was the town’s landfill!   Why would God choose such a spot for His heavenly mother to appear? Perhaps the appearance of the sinless Blessed Virgin at that spot would remind people that “God can make all things new,” that His merciful love, and that of His mother's, can remove the idols in our life and transform the garbage in our souls into something beautiful and holy.

Surprisingly, it was not until the 16^th apparition that “the beautiful lady” finally told Bernadette who she was, saying: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”  Bernadette was not well educated, nor well catechized; she had never heard the phrase before and knew not what it meant, which helped convince the local priest that she was telling the truth.  In fact, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception had only been declared 4 years prior, and it was not a title known by most Catholics at the time, but it certainly became well-known after these heavenly visitations in Lourdes.

On the 9th apparition, Our Lady requested that Bernadette eat some of the grass growing in the grotto and to wash in the spring.  Bernadette obeyed without question.  However, there was no spring nearby, so she began to dig where the Blessed Mother indicated the spring should be.  A puddle of muddy water appeared, and Bernadette rubbed the mud all over her face, causing the hundreds of spectators to laugh and conclude that she was crazy.  Their opinion quickly changed, however, when the muddy puddle turned into a flowing spring, which continues to flow today and has caused many miraculous cures.

After Bernadette's 18^th—and final—apparition, Bernadette chose the hidden life of the convent.  During one apparition Our Lady had told Bernadette:  “I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the next.”  These words came true for Bernadette.  Her young life, both before and after the apparitions, was filled with hardship.  Many of the nuns in her convent treated her harshly for a variety of reasons:  some did not believe that Bernadette saw the Blessed Virgin, some were simply jealous of her for receiving such a special grace, and some felt they needed to protect her from vainglory.  Bernadette carried the heavy cross of their cruelty with sublime patience and humility.  She was also given the cross of a cancerous tumor on her knee.  She suffered so serenely that her fellow nuns did not think she was very ill.  One day, a nun who came to visit her asked her unkindly, "What are you doing in bed, you lazy little thing?” Bernadette's reply was, "I am doing my job.  I must be a victim."  She accepted suffering as God’s will for her—her “job”—and she trusted that He would use it for the good of her soul or the souls of others.  As she lay dying in her bed, Bernadette pressed a crucifix to her chest and cried, "All this is good for Heaven!"   Love is what gave her the strength to do her “job” so joyfully, as she beautifully explained:  “I will spend every moment loving.  For one who loves does not notice her trials, or perhaps more accurately, she learns to love them.”  Bernadette’s last words were, "Blessed Mary, Mother of God, pray for me, a poor sinner, a poor sinner!"  How happy she must have been to see “the beautiful lady" again, this time welcoming her to heaven, fulfilling the promise that she would finally find true happiness.  She died at age 35, and when her body was exhumed many years later, it was found to be perfectly incorrupt.

St. Bernadette’s story still has so much to teach us Catholic women today.  Even though she had the honor of Our Lady appearing to her, her “job” was to suffer for the salvation of souls.  Her story reminds us to ask ourselves, what is our “job,” what is God calling us to do for His Kingdom?  Perhaps your “job” is to offer up the mundane duty of changing dirty diapers…  Perhaps it is to serenely suffer a physical illness to save souls like St. Bernadette…  Perhaps it is to show forgiveness and unconditional love to your spouse to show the world what true Christ-like love looks like.  Perhaps it is to plant seeds of God’s love at your workplace and get ridiculed for it.  Yes, perhaps the “jobs” that God gives us might cause us some suffering, but by uniting our pain with Jesus’ Passion, we will grow closer to Him and perhaps save a soul or two like our little saint from Lourdes.  So, whatever your “job” is, ask St. Bernadette to intercede for you to help you live it out with courage and love like she did, all for the greater glory of God!  

Here is a fun recipe to make for the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes to remind you of the beautiful roses that rested upon Our Lady's feet when she appeared to St. Bernadette.  I try to make these on most of the Marian Feast days, as well as on St. Elizabeth's Feast Day and St. Therese.  Our family loves them, and I hope yours does too!

Sweet Roll Dough

1 pkg. dry yeast
½ c. warm water
1/2 c. lukewarm milk (scalded then cooled)
1/3 c. butter, margarine or shortening
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
3 ½ to 4 c. flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Stir in milk sugar, butter, salt, egg, and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in warm place until double, about 1 ½ hours.

Cinnamon Filling
2 T. butter, melted
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. cinnamon 

Mix until all sugar and cinnamon is moistened. 

Make 4 small balls (golf ball size) of dough and roll them out into 3 1/2 inch diameter circles. Overlap dough circles as shown. Sprinkle some of the cinnamon sugar mixture across middle, leaving curved edges clear. 

Roll circles up into rolls as shown. You should end up with rolled dough with both ends fluted. Cut roll in half. 

Place dough in greased muffin tins. Cut/flat end should be down and the pretty, fluted/curved end up. 

Let rise until double (30-40 minutes). Bake in 350 degree oven 12-15 minutes. 

I found this recipe at the Catholic Cuisine website:  http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2015/07/st-elizabeth-rose-bread.html

Easter Recipes

I made a couple of Easter recipes that I am posting so that I won't forget them, but perhaps some of you will enjoy them as well:


The first one is the Bird Nest Cookies that I mentioned and pictured in my last post.  I used the recipe right on the M&Ms bag and only changed one thing:  I added peanut butter to the indentations to prevent the M&Ms from falling off.  Enjoy!

Easter Bird Nest Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/3 cup flaked, sweetened coconut
• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened--NOT melted
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups M&M’s® Brand Speckled Milk Chocolate Eggs
• (I added peanut butter to the indentations)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Spread coconut on non-greased cookie sheet. Toast in oven, stirring occasionally, until it turns light golden, about 15-20 minutes.
2. Remove coconut from cookie sheet and set aside.
3. Increase oven temperature to 350°F. In large bowl, add butter and sugar and whip until light and fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla.
4. In medium bowl, combine flour and salt. Blend into creamed mixture.
5. Form dough into 1-1/4-inch balls. Roll heavily into toasted coconut.
6. Place coconut cookies 2 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheets. Make indentation with thumb in center of each cookie. Bake 10 to 13 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Remove cookies and cool completely. Spread a little bit of peanut butter into each indentation, and then fill with M&M’s® Brand Speckled Milk Chocolate Eggs.

 

After the Easter celebrations were all over, I found my fridge full of dyed hard-boiled eggs, so I wanted to make an Egg Salad Sandwich recipe.  I found a simple one in my Betty Crocker cookbook, and then I added a few favorite ingredients of my own to make it extra delicious.

 

Easter Egg Salad Sandwiches

 

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• 4 Tbsp. mayo
• 1 Tbsp. mustard
• 1/4 cup Craisens (dried cranberries)
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1 can tuna, drained (you could also use up left-over ham, cut up into small pieces)
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (I added more)
• salt and pepper to season to your liking
 

 

 

got rhubarb?

This is the first year of having our own rhubarb plant in our garden (thanks to my friend Lisa), so I've been having fun experimenting with rhubarb recipes. I do not claim to be a great cook or a baker, but I stumbled upon this amazing rhubarb recipe that I felt was worth sharing.

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2/3 cup butter (melted)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup sour milk or butter milk
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb (I put mine in the food processor to chop it very small, but I don't know if that matters)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp butter (softened)

Preheat oven to 325. Grease 2 8 inch loaf pans. In a large bowl, beat together the brown sugar, butter, and egg. Add the vanilla and salt. Mix the soda with the sour milk and add to the egg mixture. Stir the flour into the wet ingredients just until combined. Fold in the rhubarb and nuts. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Mix the granulated sugar and butter together and sprinkle over the loaves (this makes the top look really pretty, plus it tastes great too!). Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn the loaves out onto a rack.