The International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima

The International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima (photo credit:  Mary Anne Urlakis)

"Please don't touch her.  She'll touch you."  

~a sign placed in front of the statue

The International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima was designed in 1947 to the exact specifications of Sister Lucia, one of the three Fatima visionaries.  Since then, she has traveled the world with two caretakers, making visits to faithful believers in all nations.  Many prayers have been answered, graces and blessings bestowed, and even a miracle or two have been attributed to prayers in her presence.  She has even been known to weep.


Roses for Our Lady is blessed to host a visit from the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima at our June 9th Holy Hour for Vocations at 2 PM at St. Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee. Just two weeks prior to the holy hour, we found that our scheduled priest would be unable to attend.  I made a pilgrimage to visit the Handmaids of the Precious Blood and to Marytown with my sisters, and there I asked the Blessed Mother to please help me find a good and holy priest who would assist Roses for Our Lady with this holy hour, a priest that she herself would choose.  That very night, not one, but two, very holy priests contacted me with their willingness to help.  I heard from both Fr. Jim Kubicki, SJ, the National Director of the Apostleship of Prayer, who offered to be a back-up and gave me much peace of mind, and Fr. Enrique Hernadez, a newly ordained priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, who wholeheartedly agreed to participate.  How blessed I felt to know that Our Lady was so eager to come to our little holy hour that she stirred the hearts of two holy men who would make sure that she was well cared for!  Before she even arrived, she was answering prayer!

I have been in such eager anticipation of this event that I wanted to pay an advanced visit to her at Holy Hill for the Feast of Corpus Christi.  As I knelt before her in prayer, I was overcome by her beauty.  I thanked her for how lovingly she has watched over my family and asked for her intercession for a friend in need of work.  All too soon, it seemed, it was time for me to go. The next day, my friend for whom I had prayed, wrote to tell me that he was offered, and accepted, an even better position than the one he had left behind!

A friend of mine who happens to be an amazing photographer, had taken pictures of the statue at Holy Hill.   I chose several pictures of Our Lady to share on the Roses for Our Lady facebook page. When I looked at them all together, I was utterly amazed to see that in one picture her head was bent down and in another she was looking straight ahead!  Miraculous!!!

The International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima (photo credit:  Mary Anne Urlakis)

The International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima (photo credit:  Mary Anne Urlakis)

If you will be in the Milwaukee area on Sunday, June 9th, I invite you to join us in prayer at our Holy Hour for Vocations.  I am confident that our seminary and our Archdiocese will be particularly blessed by Our Blessed Mother during this time of prayer.  If you aren't able to join us that day, please visit her in another Milwaukee or Chicago location.  The schedule can be found here.  Be prepared to be showered with graces and blessings, and maybe an answer or two to prayer!

The International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima (photo credit:  Mary Anne Urlakis)

Rich Ordination Photos

You read about his ordination in this post; now enjoy these rich pictures of the ordination of Fr. Paul Schneider, OFM Conv. by Stephen Pontus, OFS.

Bishop Callahan lays hands on Deacon Paul ordaining him a priest

Fr. Paul lays prostrate during the Litany of the Saints

Bishop Callahan's ring

Fr. Michael Glastetter OFM Conv, pastor and rector of the Basilica of St. Josaphat, lays hands on Fr. Paul

Fr. Alejandro Lopez OFM Conv, parochial vicar at the Basilica of St. Josaphat, lays hands on Fr. Paul.

Fr. Robert Joseph Switanowski OFM Conv lays hands on Fr. Paul. Fr. Robert Joseph was the parochial Vicar at St Josaphat’s when Bishop Callahan was the rector and pastor at the Basilica

The newly ordained Fr. Paul Schneider OFM Conv imparts his first priestly blessing upon Bishop Callahan.

The Ear of the Heart: An Actress' Journey From Hollywood to Holy Vows-A Book Review

 I'm not one who carefully follows the Hollywood gossip that revolves around the lives of famous actors and actresses, but I understand from the news stories that do capture my attention that  the lives of the rich and famous are often filled with self-interest and leave very little room for God.  Of course, there are beautiful exceptions, and Mother Delores Hart is one of them.

I had never heard of Delores Hart until Lisa Wheeler from Carmel Communications offered me the opportunity to read and review the book, The Ear of the Heart:  An Actress' Journey From Hollywood to Holy Vows, by Mother Delores Hart, O.S.B. and Richard DeNeut, about how a beautiful actress gave up a life of fame and riches, that of a Hollywood and Broadway actress, to completely devote herself to Christ as a cloistered Benedictine nun.

The idea of a woman giving up earthy wealth and fame, letting go of her passion for the one thing in life that she loved and in which she excelled, acting, to completely devote herself to God, tucked away in a cloistered convent, was very intriguing to me, and so I eagerly agreed to read and review The Ear of the Heart.

The book is quite lengthy at over 400 pages and I felt that a lot of the details could have been omitted without losing any of the flavor of this inspiring story.  The anecdotes of the many famous people who impacted her life was interesting, but I was most intrigued by the glimpes of how God Himself was making an impact on this young woman.  The fact that Delores, while not raised Catholic, attended Catholic Schools and converted at a very young age, and made her own way to weekly Mass without her family, was quite remarkable.  I was most captivated by the details of how God was calling Mother Delores'  to monastic life at Regina Laudis Monastery, for which she would ultimately eschew the Hollywood lifestyle and the promise of marriage, to give herself entirely over to God in a drastic entry into cloistered life. 

As the story moved to Mother Delores' entry into Regina Laudis Monastery, I became more completely engrossed.  To get an inside view of monastic life-the work, the liturgy of the hours, the relationships between the sisters, and the power of obedience-was delightfully eye-opening.   I was moved by the fact that she cried herself to sleep every night for the first three years, and although others with whom she entered the monastery had left, Mother Delores stayed and worked through the many and varied challenges of monastic life with the help of God. 

Some quotes that particularly captivated me were:

"Mother Dorcas Roselund, in describing the pitfalls of monastic life, summed it up another way.  A gastroenterologist before she entered Regina Laudis, she is now the community's baker.  Life in the monastery is "the new martyrdom," she said.  "They used to throw Christians to the lions.  Now they make us live together."

"Here were women with courage to follow an invisible love in a coffin of seclusion from the world.   They follow with no obvious support to the brink of the unknown, there to set fire to a perpetual lamp of love."

"Our daily schedule is never interrupted.  Work has to be done.  Animals have to be fed.  We have to stay here and pray and believe that we can help by doing so.  It requires discipline and clarity about what your mission is and where your body needs to be, where it can do the most good."

I found The Ear of the Heart, An Actress' Journey From Hollywood to Holy Vows to be an intense look into the life of a very human woman striving for holiness by giving up all that she loved and all that she could have achieved in the world, to use her many gifts for the glory of God, and in doing so, found a joy beyond human comprehension.  It was an uplifting read!
 
The Ear of the Heart is available through Ignatius Press.

The Ordination of Fr. Paul Schneider, OFM Conv.

The Basilica of St. Josephat  (for more photos visit this link)

Heaven came down to earth this past weekend, of that I am certain.  My friend, Fr. Paul Schneider, OFM Conv. was ordained to the priesthood at the Basilica of St. Josephat by Bishop William Callahan and it was one of the most perfect, magnificent, holy and beautiful experiences I have ever known.  There is nothing more beautiful than watching a man lay down his life for the Lord, but to witness an ordination in the grandeur of the Basilica, with a choir of what sounded like angels accompanied by trumpets and strings and drums, praying in the company of the sweetest, most wonderful and most joyful of all nuns-The Handmaids of the Precious Blood, whose purpose is to pray for priests, and watching the new priest, in beautiful Marian vestments shed tears of joy while celebrating his first Mass and presenting his mother with a long-awaited maniturgia (Fr. Paul is a late vocation),  all amounted to holy perfection, and I was so blessed to be a humble witness and participant of it all.  I smiled until I thought my face would break and cried until I thought my heart would melt-it was all so incredibly wondrous.

Fr. Paul and I met in the noon hour confessional line at the Church of the Gesu in downtown Milwaukee  in November of 2011.  I had recognized him from my visits to St. Francis de Sales Seminary where he had spent some time studying, and so I introduced myself.  He told me that he had less than two years left before ordination to the priesthood and he asked me to pray for him.  What he didn't know was that very night I was to be enrolled as a candidate for the Oblates of the Precious Blood and would be committing my life to praying for priests along with the Handmaids of the Precious Blood.  I took his request for prayer as a sign from God that what I was about to do was indeed His will for me.  The next month, in a Christmas letter from the Handmaids, I discovered Fr. Paul's picture and learned that he, too, was an Oblate of the Precious Blood!  Since then, Fr. Paul has been a wonderful friend, helping with events for Roses for Our Lady, an organization with which I am involved, and being a confidant and advisor in some of my personal faith issues as well.  Being invited to his ordination was a joy of the greatest magnitude.

Every single part of Fr. Paul's ordination-from the lovely image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the invitation, the order of worship and his holy card, the quiet prayerfulness of the holy hour on the eve of ordination (see Fr. Alejandro Castro's fabulous priestly reflection with personal stories of Fr. Paul's life based on Luke 9 below), having the opportunity to sit next to and pray with the Handmaids of the Precious Blood,  who, although they are cloistered,  were given special permission to attend his ordination,  and the joyful smile and easy approachability of Bishop Callahan, who had formerly been the rector and pastor of the Basilica and who was the bishop who ordained Fr. Paul, to the choir resounding magnificent hymns of praise (a video follows-or visit this link- not of the actual choir but a perfect likeness in sound of the offertory song, Let All the World), to the sweet sight of Fr. Paul bringing flowers to the altar of Our Lady during the Ave Maria-every moment was a treasure I will never forget.

Fr. Paul with my husband and I from my Solemn Resolution of Love as an Oblate of the Precious Blood last October

I praise God for Fr. Paul Schneider, OFM Conv. and I pray that the love and joy that filled his heart on his ordination day and during his beautiful first Mass will remain with him forever as he journeys to his first assignment in Peoria, Illinois, and wherever the Lord may call him to serve in the years to come.

**********************************************

Enjoy this touching reflection on the priesthood based on Luke 9, graciously shared by Fr. Alejandro Lopez OFM Conv.:

Perhaps it was the preaching

of a particularly inspiring, Cuban priest.

            Or a documentary on Mother Teresa or St. Maximilian Kolbe.

Or a rerun on EWTN

of some mutton-chop, side-burned fellow

on fire for the Lord.

Or a pilgrimage or two, to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe…

            Whatever…the Lord uses the moment to kick-started your vocation.

Kick you in the rear.

And suddenly…all those reasons why you’re “not enough”

            don’t seem to amount to a hill of beans.

And you think maybe he does want me!

Maybe he really does want me!

         As incredible as that may seem!

And off you go running…as if in love for the first time!

But then…there’s a stumble.

A trip up that comes…perhaps many years later.

When in the midst of your studies. Or as a deacon.

            After years of running well.

When the old, familiar doubts creep back in

like a homeless Gila monster.

 “I’m not smart enough.”

“I can’t sing well enough!”

“I’m certainly not holy enough.”

“I tried before and it didn’t work out.”

            “I’m too old, now.”

And you admit to Jesus in prayer,

            “Dismiss the crowds,

for it’s a deserted place here.”

What you’re saying is what you think you know:

            “I don’t have enough for so many!

            I barely have enough for myself!”

But Jesus challenges,

“Give them some food, yourself.”

And this will be your vocation.

As a deacon, you already know this.

As a deacon you’ve already been “preparing meals.”

Not from some “five ingredient”

crockpot cookbook!

But in and through the Holy Spirit.

            At work in and through your life.

Helping you to break open the Word.

            And feed crowds at Mass!

To be an instrument of peace in your friary.

To open doors in the dark

and be a brother to a stranger

whose mind swims with his own alcohol-fed fears.

Tomorrow, and for the rest of your life,

            Jesus will encourage you to make him present to others:

“Give them some food yourself.”

And his command may haunt you!

            If you take your vocation seriously,

I think it must scare you at some time in your priesthood!

For you will fear

that God’s people will go hungry.

            Because you failed to find them some food!

“But five loaves and two fish are all I have!”

Thankfully, Jesus understands!

And he has a plan!

A plan that includes poor priests and their poverty!

That takes into account our pitiful and small humanity

and makes it part of the Feast!

He teaches us by example that life isn’t a solo act.

Insisting that his disciples help.

And in today’s Gospel, the Lord takes what they bring

and gives it right back…to them…to us.

Tonight I’m thinking how he gives us, priests,

the Food that will nourish.

How our consecrated lives are part of the meal.

As our Lord takes us and blesses us.

And allows even our doubts and fears to break us open.

            And then gives our lives away.

All the while letting us have the places of honor!

            Letting us appear to be heroes!

Humbly letting folk imagine

we walk a tightrope gloriously without a net.

 (The secret is we don’t!)

For each, alone, is never enough to feed so many!

Yet neither were we, priests, meant to be the meal!

Not by ourselves.

We’re served, by the Grace of God,

            with his Body and Blood!

And we must never forget that!

            Father Paul, you must never forget that!

Each and every day of your life, as a priest,

the Lord will remind you

that you are not the main course!

At this altar…but also in the nursing home…

Or in a parishioner’s home…

Or in your office…or friary.

Or in the back of church after Mass.

As the People of God, the Body of Christ,

lift you up when you are down,

like a consecrated Host!

Helping make your priestly vocation holy!

And when you are proud,

whenever you imagine you can feed them by yourself,

the People of God, the Body of Christ,

will humble you, too.

Helping make your priestly vocation holy!

Paul, tonight we gather with the Lord,

            to pray for you.

Not because we know your musical skills.

            Or how old you are.

Or how much you like “Fiddle Faddle,”

or a trip to Leon’s every now and then.

We pray for you because we know you’re human.

            And we know you are called

to a special role in his Church!

We know that Christ plans to make of you

something new and wonderful…and holy.

And we pray for you because we know

God answers every prayer.

            And will help you…even in your fears.

Way back in the beginning of Genesis

            God beat back the first fear.

The Lord told Adam, wounded by sin,  

            “Who told you that you were naked?”

In other words, “Enough with ‘not enough!’”

And maybe that’s what he says to us.

As we gaze upon him.

            And adore him in the Eucharist.

Mysteriously appearing

in his Glorified, Risen Body and Blood

as something so lowly as a piece of bread.

Something that to our senses seems

“not enough” to satisfy even one little child!

By his Grace…By the power of his Holy Spirit…

By His Glorified, Risen and Ascended Body and Blood

present in the Eucharist…

You, and every other priest called to follow him,

will be more than enough!

Tonight we gaze upon the Sacrament of the Mystery of God’s Love.

            In the silence we pray that it will transform you!

See what you are…become what you receive!

            Allow the Lord to consecrate you in your priesthood

as his Body and Blood for the salvation of all the World!

O Beautiful Mother

On this day, O Beautiful Mother! On this day we give thee our love; Near thee, Madonna, fondly we hover, trusting thy gentle care to prove.

Roses for Our Lady, an organization of lay faithful in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee which seeks to promote Eucharistic and Marian Devotion, celebrated our annual May Crowning and outdoor Eucharistic Rosary Procession on Sunday, May 12th, Mother's Day.  Although the weather was a bit chilly, the sun was shining, and  so many people who love the Blessed Mother came to honor her with their devotion.  We were blessed to have some coverage by the secular media in our area-both the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the local CBS news came to cover the event.  Enjoy the video clip and some photos below:

the crowning of Our Lady of Fatima
(photo credit Kurt Keidl)

our fine priests, seminarians and servers
(photo credit Mary Reindl)

Our Lady's vara follows the First Communicants
(photo credit Mary Reindl)

hundreds of faithful joined the procession
(photo credit Mary Reindl)

a beautiful day!
(photo credit Mary Reindl)

Fr. Enrique Hernandez, Deacon Paul Schneider, OFM Conv.,
Bishop Donald Hying and Fr. Tim Kitzke
(photo credit Stephen Pontus)

Our Lord in the hands of Fr. Matthew Widder
(photo credit Stephen Pontus)

Jesus protected by the Knights of Columbus
(photo credit Mary Reindl)

Kurt Keidl, Roses for Our Lady's vice president
(photo credit Stephen Pontus)

Bishop Hying, Roses for Our Lady's Spiritual Advisor
(photo credit Stephen Pontus)

Fr. Matthew Widder with the Lord at benediction
(photo credit Stephen Pontus)

Our Lady
(photo credit  Stephen Pontus)

 Visit the Roses for Our Lady website to view more pictures.  Click on the first photo to begin the slide show.

Glory to God For All Things

"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." ~from Akathist Hymn of Thanksgiving:  Glory to God For All Things, Ikos 2

With the beginning of May I've passed the four year mark in my blogging career.  When I first began to blog I thought that, like many of my other hobbies such as scrapbooking, floral arranging and counted-cross-stitch, this would be a short-lived endeavor lasting maybe a year or two and it would fizzle out.  Except that blogging isn't really like any of my other hobbies.  I don't blog simply to pass the time or to learn a new craft. I blog to share my faith and hopefully glorify God in the process.  And, one of the joys of blogging is that over these past four years I have come across many kindred spirits, blogging buddies, you could say, that are quite gifted at sharing their own experience of faith and who inspire me with their words.  One such blogger is  Amanda Rose who writes at Little Steps Along the Way.

Amanda has recently written two amazing posts that have worked their way deeply into my soul and have made a profound impact upon my prayer life.  I tend to be a melancholic spirit and slip quite easily into depressive episodes, but Amanda has shown me an effective antidote for my moodiness.

In her post, My Portion is the Lord, which was featured on Dr. Anthony Lilles contemplative blog, Beginning to Pray, Amanda reminds us to sing hopefully when all seems dark:

"I hope when my mind says I shouldn’t. I hope while the tears run down my cheeks. I hope when I cannot hold back the sobs of disappointment, grief and exhaustion.  Even when I doubt, my souls sings “my portion is the Lord."  I cling to this truth."

I encourage you to read it all and to remain hopeful.  And on her own blog, Amanda shares a post that not only encourages the virtue of hope, but also the virtue of gratitude.  In Singing Alleluia Through Our Tears, Amanda introduces her readers to a magnificent Orthodox prayer, an Akathist Hymn of Thanksgiving, written in 1934 by an Orthodox Metropolitan while he was held in a Russian prison camp.  I am startled each time I consider a man held captive, enduring the horrors of a prison camp, who can conjure up a prayer to magnify the Lord with such glorious words of praise.  I have since printed out the Akathist Hymn, Glory to God for All Things, and have been praying with it every day.  I encourage you to pray with it yourself and see if you, too, aren't amazed by the beauty of this prayer and uplifted to give glory to God for all things, even in the darkest of times.

"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"

~from Akathist Hymn of Thanksgiving:  Glory to God For All Things, Ikos 2

Three Reasons I Love Catholicism Vol. 2

I think if I were ever to decide that I had enough of blogging and would be tempted to hang it up, I would still hold on to this sweet little meme.  Thinking of the reasons why I love Catholicism brings me so much joy!  Even when I get mad at the Church for her problems, I couldn't imagine being any religion other than Catholic because there is just an endless list of wonderful things about this faith.  So here I am linking up with Micaela at California to Korea  who offers this great meme at the beginning of each month, with a short list of Three Reasons I Love Catholicism...

1)  The Sacred Heart of Jesus

 When anxiety, fear, sorrow, and loneliness infringe upon my peace of mind and soul, I fly to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  I place everything that bothers me into His pierced side and He burns all my troubles into ash within the fire of His Holy Love.  Then He gently draws me into His Sacred Heart as well and warms my soul with peace.  Nothing can hold me back and I can conquer the challenges of this world knowing that I am always held within the love of His Most Sacred Heart.

2)  The Holy Mass

 I've gotten myself into the habit of attending Mass, not just on Sunday, but nearly every day of the week.  Joining with the community of Catholics at Mass, my prayer is strengthened and my soul is soothed.  Listening to the Word of God and holding on to a small part of it to ponder and pray with throughout the day, watching as a simple piece of bread and cup of wine is converted into the very Body and Blood of my Savior and then receiving Him into my own miserable body in a Kiss of Love, is powerful beyond belief.  I can't imagine life without the Mass, and I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to attend so often.


3)  The Morning Offering

Sometimes it can be difficult to keep the command to "pray without ceasing."  The Morning Offering is such a simple way to pray always even when I am preoccupied with the busy activities of the day.  Starting each morning with a few words of prayer and then calling to mind all of those people and situations that are close to my heart as well as remembering Pope Francis and all of his intentions, I give it all to God and my day is covered in prayer.  Simplicity!!!  I am so grateful to my friend, Fr. Jim Kubicki, SJ and the Apostleship of Prayer for promoting this easy way of life.  Visit this link to learn more.


Visit Micaela's blog for more reasons to love Catholicism and add your own reasons.