O dear Jesus , I humbly implore You to grant  Your special graces to our family. May our home be the shrine of peace , purity , love , labor and faith. I beg you , dear Jesus , to      protect and bless all of us , absent and present , living and dead.

O Mary, loving Mother of Jesus , and our Mother , pray to Jesus for our family , for all the families of the world , to guard the cradle of the newborn , the schools of the young  and their vocations.

Blessed Saint Joseph , holy guardians of Jesus and Mary , assist us by your prayers in all the necessities of life. Ask of Jesus that special grace which he granted to you to watch over our home at the pillow of the sick and dying , so that with Mary and with you, heaven  may find our family unbroken in the Sacred Heart of Jesus . Amen

- From the Most Sacred of Jesus and Mary Prayer Book

” . . . . . In this world I cannot see the Most High Son of God with my own eyes , except or His Most Holy Body and Blood .”

- St. Francis of Assisi

Too much technology humor :

In a late afternoon of heavy rains , what does a nine year do after school and after all the homework has been done ? Watch TV ? Definitely not ! He’s bored watching TV. He wants to do something that requires assembling , kept looking  around the house and searched his toy cabinet for anything that might keep him busy before dinner time. When he can’t find anything that he can play with , he begged me to allow him to play computer games for an hour or so.

I told myself as many times in the past , killing the time and boredom with computer games is not a good idea. It is highly addictive as in the case of my son. In my experience, computer games distract my son from his studies. He can’t focus on his lessons  and spends more time on it rather than doing more productive work like improving his reading skills , helping with the home chores , engaging with social and sports activities with kids his age. When I’ve  realized that this machine has taken hold of my sons life, I decided to cut the period of time he’s supposed  to play , definitely not  on regular school days, only on Saturdays for  a few hours only. The decision has paid off, it made him more diligent with his studies and became self-diciplined than ever. He’s got more time now to engaged in worthwhile activities like art lessons ,  gardening , Cathechism classes and social activities with children his age. After all the begging to allow him to play, I’ve decided to give a firm NO for an answer.  He gave up, went straight to his room to read and draw . Just about in the middle of making himself busy , Dad arrived with five boxes of microwave dinner and three packs of self -assemble dinosaur skeleton sets. A big smile flashed on his chubby face and he immediately began to open  the packs and assembled the skeleton sets.

It took him twenty minutes to assemble three sets and felt so proud of his work which he added to his collection to dinosaur toys.

He arranged the three completed models on top of  the dresser before bedtime. One more thing, he loves puzzles, he’s quick with the smaller sets but takes days , on installments to complete a set of 500 pieces.

Find strength and peace to greet the day with morning meditation , based on a beloved Irish prayer.

This Irish prayer is attributed to Saint Patrick and often referred to as the “breastplate” of St. Patrick . . . . . . words that shield.

I arise today, Through the strength of heaven;

Light of the sun ,  Splendor of fire , Swiftness of wind,

Depth of the sea , Stability of earth , Firmness of rock.

I arise today, Through God’s strength to pilot me; God’s might to uphold me ; God’s wisdom to guide me ; God’s hand to guard me.

Afar and anear , Alone or in a multitude.

Christ shield me today ,  Against wounding : Christ with me , Christ before me , Christ behind me ,

Christ on my right , Christ on my left,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me , Christ in me.

I arise today, Through the mighty strength , Of the Lord of Creation.

Next to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Monica is one of the best examples of Christian motherhood. For years, she prayed for the conversion of her only son. Her persistence was answered  with abundant grace . Her son , Augustine , became a saint and a doctor of the Church.

Saint Monica faced a culture in which Christianity has not yet fully taken hold : we live in a culture in which Christianity is increasingly marginalized and children are pulled from the Faith.

The prayer to Saint Monica below is  particularly appropriate today :

Exemplary Mother of the great Augustine, you perseveringly pursued your wayward son not with threats , but with prayerful cries to heaven. Intercede for all mothers in our day, so that they may learn to draw their children to God. Teach them how to remain close to their children, even the prodigal sons and daughters  who have sadly gone astray.

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” Lord, will only a few people be saved ? ” He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”

Luke 13:23-24

This weekend our garden is more colorful than ever as orchid plants with gems colors bore flowers at the same time. The nice thing about growing orchids is the flowers stay in the pot without wilting for three to four weeks depending on how you care for them and how the weather is like during the period they are in bloom. The orchid blooms I posted not so long ago are still with us, plus the newly bloomed ones making our garden a haven for butterflies .

This orchid has a bright yellow color like Topaz and a red lip,  similar to the shade of Ruby. Truly beautiful , but sadly is unnamed. Let me think  . . . . . Topaz would be an appropriate name for this one.

Yes, we have a chocolate colored orchids with yellow lip and middle. It is unique not only in terms of its color, but also the shape of its petals . Like the orchid posted above , this one is also unnamed. Choco Delight would be a fitting name for this one, right ?

Here is my Lipstick plant in its hanging pot, looking so fresh and healthy after the afternoon rain. The red orange blooms are inching its way out of the plum colored sepal. Bees love this one !

The nuns are back ! For those of you  who would like to purchase religious humor calendars for personal use or as gifts,  Nuns Having Fun 2008 is the choice. It features black and  white photographs from the 1950’s to the 1960’s of nuns frolicking in the waves, playing jump rope, nuns in scooters , chorus line , skis , bumper cars , bowling alleys and more. The images are sweet and nostalgic and give a fresh, entertaining  look at the stern-looking sisters many of us remember in our chilhood.