“Yes, He’s the Right Man for Me.” ~ Alice von Hildebrand

Oftentimes, love is cultivated by the turning of our minds and hearts….away from the negative, to the uplifting and generous.

Alive von Hildebrand mentions it in this short letter, “Daily rekindle it in your heart and let it nurture your love”.

from By Love Refined – Alice von Hildebrand

Dear Julie,

I’m glad to hear your love for Michael has deepened in the four weeks you’ve known him as husband (rather than as fiancé). It’s clear that you’ve truly been granted “the eyes of love.”

Usually, we encounter in others only a caricature of their being; we are only able to discern what they’ve made of themselves rather than what they’re meant to be.

In other cases, we see only what others allow us to see, for they hide their true selves because they’ve been wounded so often or they’re shy or they fear they’ll be misunderstood.

Yet, even though we don’t often see it, all people are created in God’s image and likeness; each one in some mysterious way reflects Him and has within himself an incredible beauty, which is mostly covered by the dust and dirt of sin.

When you fell in love with Michael, you were given a great gift: your love took you past appearances and granted you a perception of his true self, who he’s meant to be in the deepest sense of the word. You discovered his “secret name.”

Those who love have been granted the special privilege of seeing with incredible intensity the beauty of the one they love – while others see primarily his exterior acts, and particularly his failings. At this moment, you see Michael more clearly than does any other living human being.

I can illustrate this best with a story from the Gospel (which is so illuminating that even an unbeliever can profit from it). Do you recall the Gospel story of the Transfiguration? The apostles went with Jesus to the top of Mount Tabor, and suddenly Jesus became radiant and his garments a dazzling white. For the first time, the apostles were allowed to see Jesus directly, clothed in His glory as God. He was transfigured before them.

Similarly, when you fell in love with Michael, you saw his true face, his unique beauty: with the eyes of love, you were granted a “Tabor vision” of Michael.

Trust this bright Tabor vision you’ve been given. Daily rekindle it in your heart and let it nurture your love. If you let it form the cornerstone of your faithfulness to Michael, your marriage will be rich, indeed.

With all my love,

Lily

Just what is a “Domestic Queen”?

She is a woman who has a good attitude about her work and place in the home, and finds satisfaction in her duty.

Her function as a Domestic Queen gains its success from, most of all, her worthy character, her role as a woman, her inner happiness, and her glory in her work.

Any woman can keep a clean house, but it takes someone special to turn it into a queenly, regal calling.

~Finer Femininity

At the end of the day, you need to first and foremost be patient with yourself….look back on the day and see the energy you DID EXPEND for your family….

Penal Rosaries! Penal rosaries and crucifixes have a wonderful story behind them. They were used during the times when religious objects were forbidden and it was illegal to be Catholic. Being caught with a rosary could mean imprisonment or worse. A penal rosary is a single decade with the crucifix on one end and, oftentimes, a ring on the other. When praying the penal rosary you would start with the ring on your thumb and the beads and crucifix of the rosary in your sleeve, as you moved on to the next decade you moved the ring to your next finger and so on and so forth. This allowed people to pray the rosary without the fear of being detected. Available here.

With his facile pen and from the wealth of his nation-wide experience, the well-known author treats anything and everything that might be included under the heading of home education: the pre-marriage training of prospective parents, the problems of the pre-school days down through the years of adolescence. No topic is neglected. “What is most praiseworthy is Fr. Lord’s insistence throughout that no educational agency can supplant the work that must be done by parents.” – Felix M. Kirsch, O.F.M.

Necessary advice to Catholic parents building a Catholic home. Reliable advice that is almost completely lost today, from people who know how it’s done. How to make it. How to live it. How to keep it. This book covers every aspect of Catholicizing your home–from spiritual matters like prayer and catechism to nuts and bolts topics like Keeping the Family Budget, Games and Toys, Harmony between School and Home, Family Prayers, Good Reading in the Home, Necessity of Home Life and much more

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