Unfolding

Have you heard Steven Curtis Chapman's song "The Glorious Unfolding"? I know it was released several months ago, but I heard it recently and it really spoke to my heart. So much so that I wanted to share it with you today. Even if you have heard it, maybe you should take a few minutes to listen to it again. Sometimes God reveals something new to us in a song we have heard many times, so I encourage you to give it a listen if you have a chance.

"Lay your head down tonight
Take a rest from the fight
Don’t try to figure it out
Just listen to what I’m whispering to your heart

There’s so much of the story that’s still yet to unfold...

And this is going to be a glorious unfolding
Just you wait and see and you will be amazed
You’ve just got to believe the story is so far from over
So hold on to every promise God has made to us
And watch this glorious unfolding

So let us remember this life we’re living
Is just the beginning of the beginning..."

Happy Feast of Saint Gianna!Our Novena {Day 9} and Our Sweet Baby's Name

Happy Feast of Saint Gianna! I hope you'll join me in celebrating this day. I plan to make an Italian dinner in honor of her heritage - probably lasagna. And we'll have these delicious brownies for dessert, because surely St. Gianna liked chocolate. (I sure do!)

I am so thankful for each of you who has prayed this novena with me. Whether you have been here for the novena in its entirety, or if you stopped by for a day or two, I am grateful.

It is always a blessing to be able to join together in prayer, and I hope the novena was fruitful for you, as it was for me. Today I am praying for each of you and your intentions, that wherever you are in your faith journey, St. Gianna would be an inspiration and a light for you.

Our novena:

God, our Father, You have granted to Your church the gift of Gianna Beretta Molla. In her youth she lovingly sought You and drew other young people to You, involving them, through apostolic witness and Catholic Action, in the care of the sick and aged, to help and comfort them.

We thank You for the gift of this young woman, so deeply committed to You. Through her example grant us the grace to consecrate our lives to Your service, for the joy of our brothers and sisters. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. 

Jesus, Redeemer of mankind, You called Saint Gianna to exercise the medical profession as a mission for the comfort of bodies and souls. In her suffering fellow men and in the little ones, deprived of all support, she saw You. 

We thank You for having revealed Yourself to this servant as “one who serves” and who soothes the sufferings of men. Treasuring her example may we become generous Christians at the service of our brothers and sisters, especially those with whom You deign to share Your Cross.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. 

God, Sanctifying Spirit, who love the Church as Your Bride, You poured into the heart of Saint Gianna a share of Your Love so that she could radiate it in her family, and thus cooperate with You in the wonderful plan of creation, and give life to new children who could know and love You.
We thank You for this model wife and, through her encouraging witness, we beg You to grant to our families the serene and Christian presence of mothers committed to transform their homes into cenacles of faith and love, rich with generous activity and sanctifying service.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. 

O God, Creator and lover of mankind, You were close to Saint Gianna when, affected by illness, she was in the painful dilemma of choosing between her own life and the life of the child whom she was carrying in herself, a gift long-awaited. Trusting You alone, and aware of Your Commandment to respect human life, Gianna found the courage to do her duty as a mother and to say “yes” to the new life of her baby, generously sacrificing her own. Through the intercession of Mary, Mother of Jesus, and after the example of Gianna, inspire all mothers to welcome with love the sparkle of new life. Grant us the grace we are praying for {say your intentions} and the joy to find an inspiration in Saint Gianna who, as a model spouse and mother, after the example of Christ, gave up her life for the life of others. 

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

{novena source}
For a wealth of information on Saint Gianna, visit saintgianna.org.

•     •     •

As you may know, in March my husband and I suffered the miscarriage of our first child. In the midst of the heartbreak and sadness, it was important to us that we give our child a name. Since we were not far enough along to know whether our baby was a boy or a girl, we chose to name him with one of each: Thomas Gianna. 

We named our sweet baby after two wonderful saints. Thomas is for St. Thomas Aquinas. His feast day is January 28. Thanks be to God for NFP, we are fairly certain our baby was conceived on or right around that day. We plan to celebrate the gift of our child's life then in the years to come. St. Thomas Aquinas was a man of great virtue and is the patron saint of students (my husband Michael is currently a Ph.D. student, and St. Thomas Aquinas is also who he received as his patron saint of the year for 2014). St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.

Gianna is after St. Gianna Beretta Molla, who suffered two miscarriages. As patron saint of the unborn and of mothers, she has been a very dear saint to me in recent days. Her life was a witness to the beauty and value of human life, and the love God has for every soul. St. Gianna, pray for us.

Michael and I have faith in the loving mercy of God. We have faith that our baby now has a place among the angels and the saints, and that he now experiences the love and glory of God that we hope to one day experience together. Thomas Gianna, pray for us.

"Love and sacrifice are clearly linked, like the sun and the light.

We cannot love without suffering and we cannot suffer without love."

{Saint Gianna Beretta Molla}

{beautiful graphic via}

Wishing you a most blessed Feast of Saint Gianna...

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He is Risen! Alleluia!

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

who are being protected by the power of God through faith

for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials,

so that the genuineness of your faith -

being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire -

may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now,

you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,

for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

{1 Peter 1:3-9}

After a challenging Lenten season which included carrying my own cross, I am so thankful for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus! This beautiful scripture from 1 Peter really touched my heart. There can be no resurrection without suffering...it is the way to salvation...and when we believe in Jesus, our Messiah, we can experience that "indescribable and glorious joy." Oh, how I long to experience that joy more fully each day. How I pray for each of us to experience the gift of His joy...

Wishing you and yours a blessed Easter season -

Alleluia!

{psalm 1 series}

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Would you pray for us?

Dear Friends & Readers,

It has been some time since I have written on this blog. I have missed being with you here.

It is difficult to write this... I am heartbroken to share that Michael and I recently suffered the miscarriage of our first child. We were overjoyed to find out we were pregnant on St. Valentine's Day, February 14. At our first ultrasound on March 10, we saw our sweet baby with a tiny beating heart. That evening we excitedly shared the news with our families, rejoicing in the gift of life God gave us. The next day my doctor called with the news that our baby's heartbeat was very slow. She told us this meant one of two things: the baby's heart could be very new and still growing, or we would have a miscarriage. The week we had to wait before our follow-up ultrasound was long. So long. We prayed harder than we had ever prayed in our lives. I also had this scripture on my heart:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,"

declares the Lord.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts."

{Isaiah 55:8-9}

On March 17, St. Patrick's Day, we had our follow-up ultrasound. Our baby no longer had a heartbeat. The physical miscarriage did not start for almost two weeks, and when it did, my body did not take it well. I won't go into too much detail here, but over the course of seven days I had three emergency room visits (twice I had to be taken by ambulance), and finally a surgery. I felt like I was in a living hell. Never have I been in such a dark place. I struggled to hope.

But this past Sunday, praise God, I found hope again. I finally experienced some desperately needed healing, and I have been improving every day since then. Thank you, Lord.

I am grateful for the blessings God sent us in this time. When I look back now, I see the abundance...

...for the gift of faith to keep going when it seemed so difficult.

...for an amazing Catholic doctor who went above and beyond in her care and compassion for us.

...both of our mothers flew in to help take care of us.

...dear family & friends reached out daily, checking in and praying.

...and greatest of all, my husband's unwavering support. He was there for every moment. We have carried this heavy cross together. The sacrificial love Michael showed me was truly the love of God, a love made possible by the grace of the sacrament of marriage. Thank you, God, for marriage. Thank you, God, for Michael.

•     •     •

Would you please pray for us? I know we would never have made it this far without the prayers and love of so many dear family members and friends. And yet I also know we still need prayers...
especially for healing and for peace.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to our story.

Love,