St. Dunstan

lighthouse mosaic made under the patronage of St. Dunstan

Lately I've been feeling a little guilty about the extent to which my sea glass obsession has taken over my life.  At the end of 2017 more often than not I would begin the day driving into the sunrise to daily Mass when the beauty of the morning would turn my thoughts to the beauty of nature and of Lake Michigan and I would steer my car in the opposite direction from the church and instead head to the beach.  Now I know that private prayer on the beach is something that can lift my soul and please the Lord, but to give up the Eucharist for it, that I'm not so sure is an even trade.  Could it be that sea glass has become a false God to me, I wondered?  And how much sea glass does a person even need?  I have become a borderline hoarder, I'm sure, as jars of sea glass and sea glass mosaics line every windowsill and nook and cranny in my home and are even starting to clutter up my office at work.  Sea glass collecting is more than an obsession, I'm afraid.  It's an addiction.  

Recently, in addition to sea glass mosaics, I've begun to create sea glass jewelry from my better pieces and have opened an Etsy shop, Sea of Glass by Annie.  The name of my shop is based upon Revelation 15:2  "And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name."  

Last January I played along with Jennifer Fulwiler's Saint's Name Generator.   The saint who had chosen to companion me was St. Mark, patron saint of stained glass window makers, which is what started my new hobby of creating sea glass mosaics under his patronage.  This year it's St. Dunstan whose name appeared to me.  St. Dunstan, born in England in 924, became a Benedictine monk and later the Archbishop of Canterbury.  He revived monastacism in England and reformed the church.  He was a skilled musician and metalworker and had used his metalsmith tongs to attack the devil during a temptation, according to legend.

St. Dunstan, whose feast day is May 19th,  is the patron saint of jewelers and lighthouse keepers.  When I learned that fact I knew that God must not mind my sea glass addiction too much because he blessed me with a patron for the year who would surely understand and approve of my hobby.

St. Dunstan of Canterbury, pray for us!

Hear, O Lord, the supplications your people make under the patronage of your bishop St Dunstan,
and grant that they may rejoice in peace in this present life and find help for life eternal. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (prayer source)

St. Dunstan

lighthouse mosaic at night with porch light behind it

Lake Michigan in January:  a sea of glass

Mother and Child in Sea Glass

Working on this sea glass mosaic under the guidance of St. Mark and Our Lady brought me peaceful memories of warm and quiet days walking the beach to collect the bits of glass.  I'm pleased with how this turned out and am ready to begin another mosaic.  What a wonderful way to pray!

Year of St. Mark the Evangelist

source

Each January for the past few years I have enjoyed participating in Jennifer Fulwiler's Saint Name Generator where, after saying a short prayer I click a button and a saint comes forward to accompany me for the coming year. This year St. Mark the Evangelist is my prayerful companion.  I find it especially providential that the Gospel readings at daily Mass just happen to be from Mark so I have been paying extra close attention to them.  I've also spent the past month reading and reflecting upon the Gospel of Mark, the shortest of the four Gospels to be written, in my daily prayer time.  What a great way this has been to immerse myself in learning about my friendly saint and the Lord as well!

In researching St. Mark I found so many different stories and they all seemed to contradict each other. In the end I'm not sure what is really the truth of his life but will share what I found to be the most fascinating aspects about the saint.

St. Mark had traveled with Paul and Barnabas and was possibly a source of contention dividing the two in their evangelic travels.  In the end, all made peace and Mark was known to be a great help in spreading the good news of Christ.

St. Mark was a close friend and possibly a relative of St. Peter during the early years of Christianity, and it was from Peter that St. Mark learned about the life of Jesus.  St. Mark payed close attention to Peter's preaching and recorded everything that he learned from our first Pope, and that's where I feel that I just may have something in common with my 2017 patron.  Most of the blog posts that I share here are taken from my notes written while listening to moving homilies or talks given by great priests.  In addition, St. Mark is a patron of imprisoned people, so there's a connection with the title of this blog, too.

In St. Mark's Gospel he mentions a man with a water jug at whose house the disciples were to prepare the passover.  That house may have belonged to Mark's mother, Mary.  His Gospel also mentions a man who ran away naked from the Garden of Gethsemane. There is speculation that St. Mark may have been the man with the water jug and the man fleeing from the Garden.  He is also mentioned as having been present at the wedding at Cana where water was changed to wine.

St. Mark is identified with a lion because he begins his Gospel with St. John the Baptist described as a "voice crying out in the wilderness." St. Mark was martyred in 68 AD when he was dragged through the city of Alexandria for two days until he died.  His relics can be found in Alexandria and at St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice.  St. Mark's Feast Day is April 25th.

St. Mark is the patron saint of stained glass window makers, although I haven't been able to make a connection as to why that might be so other than the fact that he painted pictures with his words.  But with that patronage I've decided that this will be the year that I will work on making more sea glass mosaics under his guidance.  From the time I started collecting sea glass ten years ago I had always thought that I'd like to make a mosaic of the Virgin Mary but never thought I would be up to the task and had no idea about how to begin on my own.  So it must have been St. Mark's influence that caused me to discover a lovely mosaic of Mary and Jesus made by a woman from Helsinki that was shared in a sea glass group on facebook, and upon seeing it I knew that I, too, could piece together the same image.

My friend Christi of Lumen Christi Art who designed and helped me to make a Sea Glass Tree of Life mosaic two years ago had sent her Milwaukee Journal Sentinel entry for Christmas Artwork, the icon of "Mother of God of Tenderness," as a Christmas card this past year. Of the icon she wrote:  "Christ draws our attention to His mother and there is an additional detail of love where we see that Jesus' arm is around His mother's neck.  The little face tenderly pressed against His mother's face is Christ Immanuel, the Glory of God and Creator of all."  

Using Christi's icon and my new friend from Helsinki's art as examples I have begun the work under the patronage of St. Mark.  Our Lady's face was certainly the most difficult part so far and I'm nervous about bringing Jesus' face to life after the difficulty I had with His mother's face.  I'm sure that if I would try to replicate this mosaic I would make lots of changes the second time around to improve it, but for a first effort on my own I'd say it's going pretty well and I am learning a lot.  I only have so much glass available to me so using limited supplies poses a challenge, as well.  My mosaic definitely has more of a folk art feel than classic art but I am enjoying the work and the deep prayer that accompanies the task.  The image below is my humble beginning.  I'll be sure to share the finished project in a future post.

Prayer (source)

“O glorious St Mark, through the grace of God our Father, you became a great Evangelist, preaching the Good News of Christ. Obtain for me I pray you, lively faith, firm hope and burning love; patience in adversity, humility in prosperity, recollection in prayer, purity of heart, a right intention in all my works, diligence in fulfilling the duties of my state of life, constancy in my resolutions, resignation to the will of God and perseverance in the grace of God even unto death. Through the same Christ Our Lord, Amen.”

Here's a nice reflection on St. Mark by my friend, Fr. James Kubicki, SJ from the Apostleship of Prayer.

Italian Pilgrimage: The Adriatic Sea

Could it be that our guide, Patrizia, suspected that we might be getting weary of the long bus rides and non-stop visits to churches on our pilgrimage and might be ready to enjoy a brief respite with a bit of nature?  Or did she just enjoy the seaside so much that she wanted to share it with us?  Whatever the reason behind it might have been, our brilliant guide suggested that we stop for just fifteen minutes to visit the Adriatic Sea.  She said that we couldn't leave Italy without dipping our toes in the waters of the sea.  Needless to say this sea-glass-obsessed beachcomber was thrilled with this news!  I had secretly been hoping that I might be able to bring home some Italian sea glass but hadn't dared to mention that selfish desire to anyone, so visiting the Adriatic Sea was really a dream come true.

But, before we visited the sea, we stopped for lunch at a delightful restaurant, Cafe Soriano in San Benedetto del Tronto, the largest seaport on the Adriatic Sea, which is part of the Italian Riviera. Patrizia has many family connections throughout Italy and the owner of the restaurant was a relative of hers who was able to help Massimo, our skillful bus driver, find his way around this town that was perhaps a bit unfamiliar to him.

A toast with Fr. Bill Miller from Peoria, Illinois, a most kind and holy priest.

Our entire group waiting for the bus to take us from the restaurant to the sea.

Shortly after we finished our delicious lunch we were off to the sea!  When the bus stopped by the beach I nearly ran to the shore to begin my search.  While others took their shoes off to step into the warm water, I satisfied myself with just quickly dipping my hand in and then began my search in earnest.  I found many beautiful shells, a few interesting rocks, a piece of pottery and yes, a few pieces of sea glass!  Paul was sure to rib me about this being real "sea" glass and not the "lake" glass that I find in Wisconsin on the Lake Michigan shores.  I always feel that searching for sea glass is a meditative prayer and this experience was no different.  My eyes were on the shoreline but my heart was on God.

The beautiful Adriatic Sea.

Umbrellas abandoned on this weekday.

A very satisfied sea glass searcher.

 After our visit to the sea we left for Lanciano and at the end of narrow road, trying to make a turn, our bus got stuck!  Traffic was backing up and no matter how many times Massimo tried to back up and start again it just was not going to work.  I was praying to the Blessed Mother to see us out of this jam and she did not let us down.  Massimo finally decided that the only way out of this was to back out and so the bus rode backwards all the way down the street we had just come from.  Patrizia said, "Don't worry.  We'll go backwards to Lanciano.  Everything is possible in life!  And now we're going to Abbruzi, and you know what they have in Abbruzi?  The best food!"  Patrizia was always upbeat, hardworking and confident, a truly wonderful guide!

Just when I thought this day couldn't get any better it was about to become absolutely magnificent. We were now on our way (driving forward not backward) to Lanciano to see the Eucharistic Miracle, my most anticipated visit of the pilgrimage!

Tree of Life Sea Glass Mosaic Final Post-Mary as the Tree of Life

"Happy the soul in which Mary, the Tree of Life, is planted; happier the soul in which she has acquired growth and bloom; still happier the soul in which she yields her fruit; but most happy of all: the soul which relishes and preserves Mary's fruit until death, and for ever and ever. Amen." ~St. Louis de Montfort, The Secret of Mary

Tree of Life Mosaic with natural lighting

Christi Jentz and I completed our Tree of Life Sea Glass Mosaic this past weekend!  We began the project last June with the passage from the book of Revelation in mind, but as I prayed over this project during the past seven months, I came to feel that St. Louis de Montfort's explanation of  Mary as the True Tree of Life who bore the fruit of the tree, Jesus, to be more meaningful to my heart than the Revelation passage, although that is still very fitting and very beautiful.

I renewed my Marian Consecration on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.  While attending the noon Mass on my work lunch break on my consecration renewal day, I was pleased to hear Father speak about consecration and the need to renew the offering of our complete self, our bodies, mind and spirit to the Lord.  Father had no idea, of course, that I was thrilling from his words, feeling that this was a confirmation from God that my consecration must be pleasing to Him.

And the fact that we completed the mosaic in time for my Marian Consecration also felt like a little confirmation of my thoughts regarding the Tree of Life as a sign of Mary's self-giving for Christ.   For the past seven years as I bent down upon the shores of Lake Michigan to gather the small shards of glass, I always felt that each piece of glass I collected was a small prayer of praise to God from me, and a gift of love to me from Him.  So shaping the glass into a Tree of Life Mosaic became a meaningful prayer of completion.  It became a way that I could give the gift of sea glass back to Him, through my love for Mary and my desire to draw ever more closely to the Heart of Jesus.

What a glorious day this day of Consecration is-presenting myself to Jesus through Mary on the day that she presented Jesus to God, and then seeing that gift symbolized in this beautiful work of art, made with small, found pieces of glass arranged with love by the hands of artisan Christi Jentz, who patiently taught me as I worked beside her, just as our Lord learned his artisan craft of carpentry by working beside the ever-patient St. Joseph.  The Presentation has come full circle, hasn't it?  Mary and St. Joseph presented their Son as a gift, and I, in turn, present the offering of my life and my love for sea glass as a gift to glorify both Mary and Jesus.  How amazing this life of faith truly is and how much there is to ponder in the words of St. Louis de Montfort and his book The Secret of Mary!

Tree of Life Mosaic with white background

"Chosen soul, provided you thus carefully cultivate the Tree of Life, which has been freshly planted in your soul by the Holy Spirit, I can assure you that in a short time it will grow so tall that the birds of the air will make their home in it. It will become such a good tree that it will yield in due season the sweet and adorable Fruit of honour and grace, which is Jesus, who has always been and will always be the only fruit of Mary." ~St. Louis de Montfort, The Secret of Mary

Tree of Life mosaic with blue background

"This tree, once planted in a docile heart, requires fresh air and no human support. Being of heavenly origin, it must be uninfluenced by any creature, since a creature might hinder it from rising up towards God who created it. Hence you must not rely on your own endeavours or your natural talents or your personal standing or the guidance of men. You must resort to Mary, relying solely on her help." ~St. Louis de Montfort, The Secret of Mary

flowers in springtime details

"The person in whose soul this tree has taken root must, like a good gardener, watch over it and protect it. For this tree, having life and capable of producing the fruit of life, should be raised and tended with enduring care and attention of soul. A soul that desires to be holy will make this its chief aim and occupation." ~St. Louis de Montfort, The Secret of Mary

leafing out in summer details

"You must guard against grubs doing harm to the tree. These parasites are love of self and love of comfort, and they eat away the green foliage of the Tree and frustrate the fair hope it offered of yielding good fruit; for love of self is incompatible with love of Mary." ~St. Louis de Montfort, The Secret of Mary

autumn color details-if you look closely at the top orange triangle in this section, you will see that it is a seed, like a tiny mustard seed....

"You must offer yourself to Mary, happily lose yourself in her, only to find God in her. If the Holy Spirit has planted in your soul the true Tree of Life, which is the devotion that I have just explained, you should see carefully to its cultivation, so that it will yield its fruit in due season. This devotion is like the mustard seed of the Gospel, which is indeed the smallest of all seeds, but nevertheless it grows into a big plant, shooting up so high that the birds of the air, that is, the elect, come and make their nest in its branches. They repose there, shaded from the heat of the sun, and safely hidden from beasts of prey." ~St. Louis de Montfort, The Secret of Mary

winter ice details

"Yet you need not be alarmed when the winds blow and shake this tree, for it must happen that the storm-winds of temptation will threaten to bring it down, and snow and frost tend to smother it. By this we mean that this devotion to our Blessed Lady will surely be called into question and attacked. But as long as we continue steadfastly in tending it, we have nothing to fear." ~St. Louis de Montfort, The Secret of Mary

"You must not allow this tree to be damaged by destructive animals, that is, by sins, for they may cause its death simply by their contact. They must not be allowed even to breathe upon the Tree, because their mere breath, that is, venial sins, which are most dangerous when we do not trouble ourselves about them." ~St. Louis de Montfort, The Secret of Mary

"It is also necessary to water this Tree regularly with your Communions, Masses and other public and private prayers. Otherwise it will not continue bearing fruit." ~St. Louis de Montfort, The Secret of Mary

the last of the sea glass from seven years of collecting

the last of the sea glass from seven years of collecting

with the soon-to-be finished project in the background

our next project-Mother and Child

For more on this Tree of Life project see the initial post here, a follow-up here, another follow-up here, and Christi's blog here.

The Leaves Shall Be For Healing-Tree of Life Sea Glass Mosaic Progress

"Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him." ~Revelation 22:2

Christi Jentz and I spent another lovely afternoon gluing pieces of sea glass to our Tree of Life mosaic. Her pictures turned out so beautifully, really showing the progress we have made on this joint project, and I'm pleased to share them here.  Autumn, spring and summer are "leafing out" well and we chose my patterned white pieces for the winter ice.  The marbles as the fruit of the tree stand out nicely!  Christi wrote a post for 9/11 on her Lumen Christi art blog, recalling the passage from Revelelations that the "leaves shall be for healing." Visit it and offer your own prayer for our nation. (link).  

See previous links here and here.

Sea Glass Tree of Life Mosaic-Update

"Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him." ~Revelation 22:2

Doesn't it look pretty with the light shining through?
When we are finished, the entire window will be covered with glass.

Last June my friend, Christi, and I began to plan out a sea glass mosaic project depicting the Tree of Life from the book of Revelation and I shared our beginnings here.  We recently spent six hours on a lovely late-summer day to seriously begin the work.  Since our first session in June, I diligently worked at sorting the many  jars of assorted colors of sea glass that I had accumulated over the last seven years.  I purchased an old window from our local rehab store thinking about how gorgeous the mosaic would look hanging in a window, and then I waited patiently until Christi and I could find a date that would work for  the two of us to gather at my kitchen table and begin the painstaking process of gluing the sea glass shards to the window glass.

When Christi arrived at my house, the first thing we did was to give my recycled window a critical look and decided that it was too shabby, too large, and in too much disrepair to use for our project.  So off we went to another store that sold windows that had known a former purpose.  The very first window we noticed when we walked into the store turned out to be the most perfect window for our project and we purchased it with some of the funds that I earned selling my poetry notecards at the Kansas City National Religious Art Show last July.  (For more on that story, visit this link.)

With the perfect window in hand, Christi offered a quick prayer offering our work for the glory of God and we began spreading the glass out on the table, and, using E6000 glue, set to work meticulously gluing brown glass for the tree trunk, and blue and white pieces for the river, onto the glass.

My collection of sea glass marbles is extremely small with only 12 pieces in all, and I had hoped to keep them in little plastic containers on my front porch window as a treasured prize forever, but Christi convinced me that the marbles would be put to better use as the seasonal fruits on the tree where they would really stand out.  Of course she was right. Her artistic eye instinctively knows what will look best.  Slowly, I am learning the spiritual discipline of detachment.

And so we carried on most pleasantly gluing the sea glass marbles and shards to the window when all too soon it was time for my children to arrive home from school and for Christi and I to clean up the project pieces and set them away for another day.  But this time we don't want to wait months before setting about the task once again and we set a date for the following week.  I can hardly wait to see how this will turn out when we are through and am anticipating a life-time of pleasure and prayer as I look at, and through, the glass recalling the bounty and goodness of God.

So much glass to choose from!
Can you pick out the subtle differences in shades of green and the faint difference between lavender and white?

A work in progress!

Setting the spring flowers in place using tiny mussel shells for the leaves and blue sea glass for forget-me-nots.

You can see that Christi had drawn a rough outline on the glass with blue marker.
We decided that it would have been better to have drawn it on the bottom of the glass so we could wash it off.  Can you see it through the blue water on the sides?

The large glass pieces along the bottom sides represent the 12 houses of Israel.

The Tree of Life

"Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him." ~Revelation 22:2

On a recent mild spring day, my friend Christi Jentz and I spent an enjoyable hour or two beginning to plot out a plan for a sea glass mosaic, combining my fanaticism for collecting the colorful bits of shards discovered along the shores of Lake Michigan with Christi's artistic flair and talent.  It was all Christi's idea really, I'm far too lazy to have ever considered doing much with my sea glass other than cleaning it and then using it to fill the many glass jars and bottles that line my front porch windows.

Christi had recently been blessed to visit the Chartes Cathedral in France and was enthralled with the Tree of Life floor covering that lay at the altar of the great church.  She brought a picture of the Tree of Life from the book of Revelation to my house, sketched out a rough draft on paper and we began to assemble the beginnings of the tree roots and water at the base of the tree.

At the time we began, we weren't quite sure what we would do with the mosaic-would we embed the glass in cement for an outdoor stepping stone or perhaps should we aim for a stained glass window effect instead? One of the things I most love about sea glass is how translucent it is when the light shines through the many colors, so we have decided to go with the window option.  I purchased a salvaged antique window at Restore, a resale shop that supports Habitat for Humanity, and that window will become our base for the Tree of Life mosaic.  I'm fond of following sea glass groups on facebook and it was there that I learned that Duco Cement works well for holding the sea glass onto window glass so that's the bond we'll use, followed by a coat of resin to hold the piece together.  I'm a bit concerned that the window I purchased may be a  bit too large and heavy, so I may have to continue searching for something a bit lighter weight, but that searching will be most enjoyable, I'm sure.

the window will obviously need  a bit of love
and careful cleaning before we glue the sea glass on it!

At this point I continue to spend my spare time separating the many colors of sea glass in my collection to make the work of piecing the mosiac together go more smoothly and quickly.  We anticipate the project taking us several months before we'll be satisfied with what  we accomplish, but I'll be joyfully sharing our progress along the way and welcoming any advice from experts and novices alike on how we should proceed.

Christi has also written a post about the project including some fascinating background information on the Chartes Cathedral.  Please do visit her post here to learn more!

A river runs through the tree of life, and a river runs through my soul.  

That river refreshes me with every good gift from God-

the gifts of friendship, creativity, beauty and joy-

the gifts that bring meaning to my days.  

How glorious is our God!  

He quenches my burning thirst for His love 

with little drops of grace 

poured out with perfect measure 

to gently wash me into His peace.

Glory to God for All Things

"I kiss the soil as if I placed a kiss on the hands of a mother, for the homeland is our earthly mother."  

~Pope John Paul II

"Nature, therefore, becomes a gospel that speaks to us of God."  ~Pope John Paul II

Akathist Hymn:  Glory to God for All Things

O Lord, how lovely it is to be Thy guest. Breeze full of scents; mountains reaching to the skies; waters like boundless mirrors, reflecting the sun's golden rays and the scudding clouds. All nature murmurs mysteriously, breathing the depth of tenderness. Birds and beasts of the forest bear the imprint of Thy love. Blessed art thou, mother earth, in thy fleeting loveliness, which wakens our yearning for happiness that will last for ever, in the land where, amid beauty that grows not old, the cry rings out: Alleluia!

Thou hast brought me into life as into an enchanted paradise. We have seen the sky like a chalice of deepest blue, where in the azure heights the birds are singing. We have listened to the soothing murmur of the forest and the melodious music of the streams. We have tasted fruit of fine flavour and the sweet-scented honey. We can live very well on Thine earth. It is a pleasure to be Thy guest.

Glory to Thee for the Feast Day of life
Glory to Thee for the perfume of lilies and roses
Glory to Thee for each different taste of berry and fruit
Glory to Thee for the sparkling silver of early morning dew
Glory to Thee for the joy of dawn's awakening
Glory to Thee for the new life each day brings
Glory to Thee, O God, from age to age

Inseparable Hearts

My friend, George Zagel, paints "pinstripe" on bottles,
 and he surprised me with the gift of this Immaculate Heart of Mary bottle

 

I like this effect with the rays of sunlight shining around it.
It makes me think of the rays of His love surrounding her heart.

Exchange of Hearts by Christi Jentz, Lumen Christi Art, details here.  A must read!

Inseparable Hearts

It was her "yes" that allowed

His tender heart

to grow within her

bearing the marks of her love-

the gift of a mother to her child.

While presenting 

her Son to the Lord

the old man eerily pointed toward

her bosom and spoke the words

that would forever haunt her thoughts-

"a sword shall pierce your very heart."

Her Immaculate Heart 

beat within His Sacred Heart

always, always.

They were inseparable.

And that day, that dark, black day

she stood there, 

stood with her grief, her sorrow, her pain

and helplessly watched as His Heart broke

from so much love freely given,

her own heart breaking, too.

When His Heart beat no more,

the sword came, and pierced it through,

with the blood and water of our salvation

spilling upon the ground.

She, too, felt the stabbing wound,

and once again she heard those eerie words

echoing within her soul-

"a sword shall pierce your very heart"

Her Immaculate Heart

beat within His Sacred Heart

always, always.

They were inseparable.

Today begins the Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in anticipation of Pope Francis' Consecration of the World to Her Immaculate Heart on Sunday, October 13th.  You can have the novena prayers emailed to you by visiting Pray More Novenas blog and signing up.  The novena prayer includes the following Act of Consecration by Pope Pius XII which very fittingly unites the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Act of Consecration by Pope Pius XII

Most Holy Virgin Mary, tender Mother of men, to fulfill the desires of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the request of the Vicar of Your Son on earth, we consecrate ourselves and our families to your Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and we recommend to You, all the people of our country and all the world.

Please accept our consecration, dearest Mother, and use us as You wish to accomplish Your designs in the world.

O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and Queen of the World, rule over us, together with the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, Our King. Save us from the spreading flood of modern paganism; kindle in our hearts and homes the love of purity, the practice of a virtuous life, an ardent zeal for souls, and a desire to pray the Rosary more faithfully.

We come with confidence to You, O Throne of Grace and Mother of Fair Love. Inflame us with the same Divine Fire which has inflamed Your own Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. Make our hearts and homes Your shrine, and through us, make the Heart of Jesus, together with your rule, triumph in every heart and home.

Amen.

This post is part of a First Friday link-up at O Most Sacred Heart blog.  

Visit here for more posts on the Sacred Heart of Jesus and feel free to add your own.

If you are in the Milwaukee area, join Roses for Our Lady at our monthly holy hour for vocations on Sunday, October 13th at 2 PM at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary.  Fr. Jim Kubicki, SJ, will join us and will lead us in a Consecration to Jesus through Mary in union with Pope Francis as he consecrates the world to her Immaculate Heart.