Praise the Lord!

My mother, sisters, and I just spent a truly blessed week at Miles Jesu's Ave Cor Mariae Catholic Girls' Summer Camp in Dixon, IL. Not too many years ago I attended as a camper myself, but for the last few years I have gone back as an assistant leader. What a beautiful mission field Our Lord calls us to! Each day we were privileged to help minister to 72 girls from all over the country in all sorts of ways... Mom as camp nurse and Claire, Veronica, and I leading daily activities such as art, craft, hair, dance, skits, and finally a talent show at the end of the week. Even though each day was extremely packed, Christ was so present there, providing all the strength and grace necessary to carry out His work! Each morning began with Holy Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Confessions were available each afternoon. So much joy and love abounded and I am so grateful to have been a part of it all.

Thank You, Lord, for Your Goodness!

Congratulations...

...to my talented sister Claire who is attending the Sacred Music Colloquium this week and was selected to sing the soprano solo in her polyphony choir. Praise God!

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"Make music to the Lord with the harp and melodious song." - Psalm 98:5

Since I am a Princess with Jesus as my King and Mary as my Queen...

...and this month is dedicated to Them, it is only fitting that I dedicate a post to Them! And since blogger will not let me copy the beautiful consecration prayer to the Sacred Heart that I wanted to post here, I will simply include a link: CatholicCulture.org.

I love the prayer all the way at the bottom of the page entitled "Renewal of the Consecration of Families". Please head on over to Catholic Culture and pray it with me. And if your home and family have not yet been enthroned to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, please read about the devotion and consider doing it with your family! We had our home and family enthroned on my birthday in 1994 and it has been a huge grace for us.

All for the Sacred and Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, all through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, all in union with St. Joseph.

Thank You Lord...

...for Life! And for the many blessings You've given me these first 20 years of my life and continue to give me today.

Love,
Sarah
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"Trust in the Lord, (delight in the Lord!) and He will give you the desires of your heart."
- Psalm 37:4

Credit Where Credit is Due

In my latest two posts, I shared two wonderful quotes from two wonderful women.
Now it's only right that I share where I found these quotes:

Betty Scott Stam:
found on girltalkhome.com

Corrie Ten Boom:
found in Alex and Brett Harris' book Start Here: Doing Hard Things Right Where You Are

Spiritual Surrender = Eternal Joy!

"Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Your will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all utterly to You to be yours forever. Fill me and seal me with Your Holy Spirit. Use me as You want, send me where You want, work out Your whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever."

-Betty Scott Stam, Christian missionary and martyr in China

Blessed Pentecost Sunday, my friends, (just two days late)! I spent the Solemnity at the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor, MI on retreat, followed by a brief camping trip with my family. Thank the Lord for spiritual and physical rejuvination!

Mary, Mother of Jesus and Spouse of the Holy Spirit, pray for us!

Courage + Humility + Gratitude =

Heroism!

These virtues are what made holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom the true heroine that she was:

"When people come up and give me a compliment -- 'Corrie, that was a good talk,' or 'Corrie, you were so brave,' I take each remark as if it were a flower. At the end of each day I lift up the bouquet of flowers I have gathered throughout the day and say, 'Here you are, Lord, it is all yours.'"

Praise God for the gifts He showers upon each of us each day!

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My current good news is that I survived finals :), enjoyed a busy and wonderful final weekend at Christendom, and am now home safe and sound. Thank You, Lord!

Reflection on Freshman Year

Classes are complete. 2 finals done and 4 more to go. Where has freshman year gone? It has become a wonderful memory... a year of so many blessings, so many graces given by God. I have learned so much, participated in so many activities, grown in so many ways. There are many dear, dear people whom I am now privileged to call my friends (who make the idea of leaving for 3 whole months very difficult). But at the same time, summer is near and I look forward to spending it with my family and friends back home, working and volunteering and doing things I love to do!

Thank You, Lord, for bringing me to Christendom. Words cannot express my gratitude for all the gifts You are giving me here. Please help me to give back in some small way. Help me to make the world a better place for You!

Today's challenge: Take a moment to pause and thank God specifically. How has he blessed your life today? This week? This school year? Please keep me in your prayers, friends, and know that you are in mine!

For some wonderful spiritual reflections, see my sister Claire's blog here!

Mother Mary, help us on our way to your Son...in Paradise

This prayer to our Heavenly Mother in Paradise is so beautiful that I have to share it!

Virgin Mother, daughter of your Son,

humbler and loftier past creation's measure,

the fulcrum of the everlasting plan,

You are she who ennobled human nature

so highly, that its Maker did not scorn

to make Himself the Creature of His creature.

In your womb was the flame of love reborn,

in the eternal peace of whose warm ray

this flower has sprung and is so richly grown.

for us you are the torch of the noonday

of charity; below, you are the spring

of ever-living hope for men that die.

Lady, so great you are, such strength you bring,

who does not run to you and looks for grace,

his wish would seek to fly without a wing.

Not only does your kindness come to brace

our courage when we beg: often your free

favor arrives before our prayer's race.

In you is mercy, in you is piety,

in you magnificence, in you the sum

of excellence in all things that come to be.

Prayer of St. Bernard in Paradiso

(Divine Comedy by Dante, trans. Anthony Esolen, 33.1-21)

Spring Musical and Spring Formal!

Spring Formal was very enjoyable! My lovely dress was designed and made by my sister Veronica, with accessories (hair piece and jewelry) designed and made by my sister Claire. Thank you, dears! You helped make me look like the princess I felt!

Also, our spring musical Hello, Dolly! was a huge success! Thank you for your prayers. See a write up with great photos here.

Today's quote:

"Pride goes before another fault."
- by yours truly and a fabulous waltzing partner at Spring Formal

Alleluia!

HE is Risen!

What did you do to commemorate the Triduum and celebrate Easter Sunday?

I went home with my good friend Sarah B. and stayed with her sweet family a few hours away from college. Here is a glimpse of some of the things we did...

Holy Thursday:
Studying Philosophy outside in the sun
Mass of our Lord's Supper
Adoration
Singing around the guitar with Mr. B

Good Friday:
Walking Stations of the Cross with the Archbishop
Rosary outside of an abortion mill
Tour of the first US Cathedral
Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet with Novena of the Divine Mercy at 3pm
Good Friday service with veneration of the Cross

Holy Saturday:
Shopping for baking ingredients and Easter dinner (we snuck in some Thrift Store shopping too and found a dress for Sarah B. to remodel for Spring Formal :)
Lunch on the run (a yummy veggie pizza)
Baking! We made two poppyseed rolls, cinnamon raisin buns, apple of your eye cheesecake, cookie dough truffles, and German butter cookies...
Easter Vigil (Where 8 catechumens were baptized and 14 more candidates were confirmed into the Faith. Praise God!)

Easter Sunday:
Sarah B.'s little brother woke us to come downstairs for a delicious homemade breakfast!
Holy Rosary before Mass
Holy Mass. He is Risen, Alleluia!
Lunch and recreation with family members, which included violin and guitar music, ultimate frisbee, and finally a campfire where the little ones roasted marshmallows and I taught them fun kids' praise songs with actions!
Then we hit the road to come back to Christendom and it's been delightfully busy ever since.

Please keep me in your prayers and know that you are in mine!

Praise the Lord!

We Adore Thee, O Christ, and We Praise Thee...

...because by Thy Holy Cross, Thou has redeemed the world.

Thank You, Lord, for Your sacrifice which opens the gates of Heaven to me, Your unworthy child. My words could never thank Thee enough, so instead I will simply love You.