MareHare

7 Quotes from Saint Lucia, Visionary at Fatima

2026-09-12T11:21:10.695-07:00

Saint Lucia was one of the three visionaries that Mother Mary appeared to in Fatima in 1917. Two of the children Jacinta and Francisco, died just a few short years after the visions, but Lucia lived to an old age of 97 as a Carmelite nun and died in Coimbra, Portugal. She spent her life in solitude praying and writing of the visions of the Blessed Mother, which included several after she became a nun. Following are some of the life lessons that she has suggested for all of us to live by to grow a life closer to her son, Jesus Christ.

𝗥𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆

“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨: ‘𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶!’ 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴.”

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴, 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴… 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮, 𝘐 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺.”

“𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺, 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘴. 𝘈 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺’𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 24 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘎𝘰𝘥.”

𝗗𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀

“𝘗𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘺-𝘵𝘰-𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺𝘳𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴!”

𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮

“𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭. 𝘐𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘭… 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺.” [𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸]

“𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴. 𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺, 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.”

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗱-𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥.”

Do, as our Mother requested.

Peace,

Mare

A Not So Boring Beginning of Glory Glorying

2026-08-28T10:51:19.511-07:00

I don't believe that I have ever written down just how Glory Glory Gifts came into existence. It's an odd tale, but one that truly happened and it is a sheer miracle that it is still around all these years later. It is 18 years and 4 months that I've been doing it and I still love it.

Back in 2008, around my birthday, I was sitting in adoration for the Sunday, 3:00 P.M. hour, along with my co-adorers, Leo and Josephine (RIP Leo). If you don't know what adoration is, it is spending time with Jesus who Catholics (and Orthodox Christians) believe is actually present in the consecrated Eucharist through transubstantiation (transubstantiation occurs when the priest says the words of Jesus, "this IS my body...", which were said at the last supper). Our church had perpetual adoration at the time, meaning that at least one person was sitting with him 24/7/363. The Eucharist (host) is actually removed from the chapel on Holy Thursday and returned at midnight on Easter Sunday.The consecrated host is placed in what is called a monstrance and then in the chapel for all to adore and visit.

Back then, I had set hours at 3 P.M. on Sundays only. I eventually increased my hours over the years and signed up to substitute for others, so I was there very often. On that particular Sunday I was sitting in the front row on the left side and Leo and Josephine were sitting in the second row on the right side and we were alone in the chapel. It was then that I heard a man's voice, not with my ears, but still very audible and it said, "Bring prayer to those that no longer come to my Father's house." I heard it clear as day but it confused me, so I turned around to look at Leo. He was asleep (sorry for outing you Leo.) Josephine was deep in prayer with her lips moving and her eyes downcast. We were still alone. Then I heard it again, this time more stern and a bit louder, "Bring prayer to those that no longer come to my Father's house." This time it stuck and I have to admit I was a bit freaked out as I knew exactly what I heard and had zero clue how to do it.

Walking home from church, I started to contemplate it out loud and remember looking up to the heavens and saying okay, God. If that was you how am I supposed to do this and with what money? I walked into my house, closed the door, and immediately there was a knock on it. I opened it and there was a man standing there and he asked me, "is that car for sale," pointing to the one in the driveway. I said, "no." He said, "I will give you $500 cash for it." I again said, "no, it's not for sale," closing the door and shaking my head in disbelief. Now I'm totally freaked out btw. Some rando guy comes and knocks to see if a car is for sale? On a dead end street? What are the odds? So I figured, okay, that's a sign to line up funds and do what I was told to do in the chapel. I then went online and started to look for various ways to support this, without selling my car, and came across a website called Wholesale Catholic Gifts. All of the items were made in the holy land, specifically Israel, and I KNEW that I should work with them, purchase products, sell them and use the funds to propel my mission to success. That was the beginning of a long and amazing relationship with a lovely woman named Lena that lasted well into the 2,000's. Glory Glory Was started by my taking money out of my 401K and the total start up cost? $500. Initially, Tom and I sold our products at flea markets and fairs and prayer cards were given out as freebies, along with lovely little cards with holy land flowers on them. In 2010 the website was started. Around the same time, this blog was initiated, as well as our Facebook page, and in 2016 I changed my ebay account to a biz account and opened a small store. Since then, I have tripled the size of that.

Promoting prayer is still 100% my ultimate goal though how I do it has changed over the years. My first focus is to spread the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the Rosary, but I'm also fully invested in teaching people how to pray correctly. Like, when you wear a saint medal, yes you have an outward devotion to that saint, but you should also have a spiritual connection with them as well. A saint medal isn't an amulet nor is it magical. You should pray to that saint daily and often and I will provide you with that prayer to say. If you purchase a rosary, you will receive instructions on how to say it fully. If you purchase a holy water bottle, or font, you will be provided with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy prayers. This way, everything that I sell has a spiritual meaning that is meant to enhance your prayer life. It's not a job; it's a vocation. All proceeds go to that vocation. Facebook is also used to promote prayer, anecdotes, information, history, and even an occasional joke, as is this blog. Most of all, that little locution that I heard 18 years ago, has brought me so extremely close to God. That's the true beauty of what this has done for me and my life.

He called and I listened and I'm still listening. This has been an absolute blessing. Every prayer I post, I say as well as prayers before meals, morning prayers, afternoon prayers, evening prayers daily. My favorites? The Chaplet, the Rosary, the Angelus, Saint Gertrude prayer for Souls in Purgatory, Saint Michael and Guardian angel prayers, the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Act of Contrition and every Padre Pio and Saint Benedict prayer I come across. After all, how can I enhance the prayer lives of others, if I do not practice what I preach? In all honesty, I cannot.

That's the humble beginnings of Glory Glory Gifts.I thank thee, Lord, for opening my ears and heart to your calling. May I continue to do your will and do it well.

Peace to you all.

Mare

When Saint Benedict Saved My Life

2026-08-21T11:18:42.186-07:00

Ugh, today didn't start out the way I planned. It was one of those mornings. I swung my feet over the side of the bed, sat up, and the room spun. I just needed to lie back down and do it again, slowly, so that my positional vertigo caught up with my surroundings. Then, with my crumbling knees and wonky ankles I wobbled over to the bureau and I decided on my outfit for my outing with the fam for brekkie.

We drove south to Ellis Street on the island, where our destination Fina's Farmhouse is located, and the traffic was rather insane heading to New Jersey. We found out that there was an accident on the Outerbridge that wasn't going to be cleared up anytime soon. Turns out it was not only an accident but also an oil spill, so that would tie up traffic on the island to New Jersey for hours. Now that truly is a bad way to start a day. I just checked the news and thank God it doesn't appear that anyone was injured in the 3-car collision. PTL We sat in traffic for a bit but managed to get out of it so that was unexpected. Sigh.

Now I'm no food critic, but I've had way better at a diner than I did at Fina's. Lisa's honey butter pancakes were suspiciously under cooked and not what she expected. We sat and watched them pour Timmy's apple juice from a Shoprite container into a plastic cup with ice, which cost us $3, and oddest of all, they only had two types of tea ~ black regular and green (according to the waitress). Now, I LOVE black tea, but my body hasn't done caffeine since the 90's so it was a disappointing green tea for me. But sitting with family for breakfast, or any meal, is priceless though isn't it? I digress...

When i got home I changed into my play clothes and headed into the backyard to say my Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet. That's when I started to think of just how fragile life is. I'm not sure what got me thinking about it but I thought of January 2025 when I was in the hospital with pneumonia and a UTI. Oh, I know what it was! My sugar is absolute crapola today. It was crashing when I woke up so I ate a banana (worst fruit ever for a diabetic). I have cyclical Cushing's syndrome so my sugar goes up when I get stressed, or if if I'm sick, or if my cortisol is wonky, or if I'm surprised, or tired, or singing, or exercising, or dancing,or if it's a Friday in August or no reason at all. Of course what I eat happens to affect it too, but normally my blood sugar just needs a high cortisol to get it pumping so it can and does raise while fasting too.

Anyhoo, literally a week or so before going into the hospital in 2025, I had received 5 or 6 Saint Benedict medals for myself and my family that had been blessed by an Exorcist (how cool is that?) My cousin knew a guy, that knew him or something like that, but anyway, I got them and instantly switched the blackened one on my neck for the new one, so I had a brand new, shiny, Saint Benedict jubilee medal on my neck. While in the hospital on the third day, at dinner time, the lovely lady from dietary came and delivered my dinner and also a half turkey sandwich and graham crackers for later in the evening. (You know how hospitals are ~ serve dinner at 4:30-5 and the next meal is breakfast at 8:30 the next day.) The hospital administers insulin to diabetics before you eat, based on a finger stick just prior to the meal, and the shot is adjusted based on your numbers. At around 10, the aide came in to do a finger stick and give me my regular dose of long-term insulin for the night. At one point the doctor decided that the sugar was still too high so he sent her in again with another 10 units and then again with another 60 units, that was way, way, way over-medicating me. Aside from that, my long-lasting insulin should not be mixed with the short ones.

The moment she left I started to feel sick. I can't even begin to describe what it did to me mentally. I couldn't even form the words to speak, my heart started racing and I broke out in a sweat. Most of all, I swear I could feel my soul about to leave my body. It was a very odd feeling like my body was transitioning. I knew that I was in trouble because I was in the bed but didn't feel connected to my body. Very odd. My first thought was to get that sandwich into my mouth, which I did along with the graham crackers that were with it. My roommate saw that I was in trouble, from my gray color and flailing arms) and came over to me (she was a nurse too) and yelled for the night nurse. They got orange juice, opened it up, and added sugar to it and had me gulp two of them. The nurse then took a finger stick and it was in the low 20's!!!!! That's a coma number. It started to go up from there. After my body started to calm down, the nurse told me to get some sleep and I told her that I was afraid to, because I was afraid I would die in my sleep. She assured me she would watch out for me and I did finally manage to get to sleep.

Now, normally, you just get meals delivered but that day dietary brought those extras. Because of Cushing's, I have a horrible immune system and I'm constantly at the hospital or in the hospital for something and that's the first and only time that has ever happened.

Saint Benedict is the patron saint of many things, but one of them is protection against poison. Insulin is poison to a body that doesn't need it. I'm a firm believer that it was 100% because of the intercession of Saint Benedict, whom I have a devotion to, that I am still here. If I didn't have that half a sandwich and graham cookie, I would never have been able to function and get my roomy's attention. Praise the Lord, and thank you Saint Benedict. You won't change my mind about that and say what you want, but I just happened to get a new Saint Benedict jubilee medal, blessed by an Exorcist, a week before I was overdosed on a poison? Yes, it was him.

So that is when Saint Benedict saved my life. It is because of his intercession, and God, that I am still here and able to enjoy brekkie with the family and my little Timothy.

Enjoy each day. Thank your saints that answer your prayers. Thank God when you get a little God wink. Life is so fragile. Be kind to one another. Love and peace to you.

Mare

I Had A Call Last Week...

2026-07-30T14:33:59.765-07:00

and it was just the oddest thing EVER. Normally, we get 10 calls a day from Google asking to verify our listing (t's been verified) and other spammers, so I honestly don't answer if the call is flagged as potential spam. Darn bots!! Anyway, Someone didn't realize they were leaving a message and I heard them say "OK Father, hello? Hello?" so I called them back (extremely rare without an actual message). I told her about the website and she said that she had looked at it, but it didn't look Catholic or even Christian. Ummm, what? I wholeheartedly hope she was looking at another site.

The site is only 3 pages, and it does have a link to the store, but what doesn't look Catholic? Our ebay store has the same banner, btw, so that you know you are in the right place. I had a nice little chat with her and told her what we carry.

To get to the ebay store directly you can use the following link, or the one to the right of this post (on a computer or classic blog style on phones). Our current list of items available are:

Rosary beads (all price ranges and styles including gemstones, sterling, pewter, freshwater pearl, plastic, wood), Rosary cases/holders, rosary bracelets, rosary rings, rosary necklaces, statues, pictures, icons, triptychs, diptychs, keychains, magnets, incense, crib medals, sterling silver medals, crosses, crucifixes and pins (made in the U.S.), veils/caplets, Cameos, chaplets, pocket prayer books & novenas, coins/charms, reliquaries, fonts, holy water bottles, devotional jewelry, Miraculous Medals, scapulars, tapestries, sports medals both pewter and sterling silver, and some beautiful tiles! www.ebay.com/str/gloryglorygifts.

I assure you, we are Catholic. As always, if you are looking for something and do not see it, feel free to contact us via ebay messaging or Mare@gloryglorygifts.com. I don't suggest using the chat on the website as there is a delay in getting responses. Til next time.

Have a good week and God bless.

Peace,

Mare

Musings......

2026-07-17T11:50:26.379-07:00

I was just thinking the other day how incredibly blessed my current life is, for this week, and the last few anyway. Every day, I have the will to get up and get going because of my absolute love of Glory Glorying, my great grandson, my artwork, my family, my prayer life and my God. You all know how life is ~ everything is just glorious and then in one minute your life falls apart. Sadly, I've had decades upon decades of life falling apart, so it is extremely nice to have the lulls where everyone is happy, healthy and in a good place all at once. Of course, that's been true throughout my life.

I'm a huge fan of just sitting and listening to the silence and solitude in my mil studio and streaming adoration from Poland with my Rosary in hand. You cannot imagine how that centers me and dulls the craziness that sometimes goes on all around me. The craziness fades into the corners. Even the birds outside are quieted from the extreme heat hitting NYC this week. It's too hot to bicker over berries and bugs, so they just perch and observe. At the moment, the household cats and my dog aren't trying to find common ground to play with each other, which usually entails lots of hissing, barking and an occasional punch thrown by Luna (king of the castle). Except for the intermittent sound of the a/c unit coming on, no other appliances or electronics are adding to the din. Nobody is home, except for me. It's quiet in all its beauty.

Then slowly, the house will come alive again with the family returning, one by one. The doors will open and the animals mingle, or avoid each other depending on their moods. We will sit as a family and enjoy dinner. Our littlest member, Timothy, is learning to clasp his hands as we pray over our meal. Then we spend time as a family until he goes up for his bath and bedtime. It's such an incredible joy and blessing to have loved ones to spend time with and that want to spend with you too.

Enjoy the small moments in your life that will create memories and sustain you for the times to come. Find that quiet time during the day to spend with God and refresh your heart and soul. Time is flying by ferociously, so grasp those moments. Make time for God and family, for without them life truly is vacant.

Peace,

Mare

It Occurred to Me...

2026-06-29T11:10:10.723-07:00

Last week I was outside doing my daily prayers and a great thought came to me. Usually when you say the Rosary, you say it and contemplate the mystery associated with the decade. As you know, there are 20 of them and you meditate on them while you say it. If you don't know how the Rosary is structured, let me refresh your memory:

Joyous Mysteries: The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Nativity, The Presentation in the Temple, Finding Jesus in the Temple. (Mondays, Saturdays)

Sorrowful Mysteries: The Agony in the Garden, The Scourging at the Pillar, The Crowning with Thorns, The Carrying of the Cross, The Crucifixion. (Tuesday, Friday)

Glorious Mysteries: The Resurrection, The Ascension, The Descent of the Holy Spirit, The Assumption of Mary and The Coronation of Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth. (Wednesday, Sunday)

Luminous Mysteries: The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, The Miracle at Cana, The Proclamation of the Kingdom, The Transfiguration and The Institution of the Eucharist. (Thursday)

Sometimes it is very difficult to stay focused while you pray. That's why it helps sometimes to stop and try to visualize the mystery or maybe look at a picture of it while you pray. We have some wonderful little Rosary Books at the store if you need a visual to help you btw, and it is currently under $5!

Okay, so what was I thinking? I was thinking of a way to say the Divine Mercy Chaplet and tie it into your daily Rosary. The Divine Mercy Chaplet has 5 decades of 10, as does the Rosary, so while you are saying it contemplate on the Sorrowful Mysteries! Instead of just reciting, "for the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world," visualize His agony in the garden, His scourging, His crowning with thorns, His carrying of the cross and His crucifixion for each decade of beads. Makes perfect sense to me, especially since I say them at the same time. For me, it brings the chaplet to a whole other level. The chaplet can be found to the right of this post or above.

The other thing that I wanted to tell you about is the absolute need to go to Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as often as you can. As Catholics, we believe that Jesus is present in the Eucharist, body, blood soul and divinity after it is consecrated by the priest. Many churches have adoration. Check your parish, and local churches, to see if and when they have it. That is 100% a life-changing event to include daily/weekly visits to the blessed sacrament. I 1000% believe that He is present in the Eucharist, because of my own experiences (which you can find on this blog, and also to the right).

If you cannot possibly make it to an adoration chapel, there is an absolutely beautiful live stream from Poland's Saint Maximillian Kolbe parish on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v+BlR18Pvy11U. If you say the Hail Mary, the Our Father, and Saint Maximillian Kolbe, pray for us, you will receive an indulgence. If the link doesn't work, search for live adoration on YouTube from Poland. EWTN also has it on their site on there. The chapel, statue of Mother Mary and Eucharist, is truly magnificent, but nothing beats being at a chapel irl, so my suggestion is to get to your local parish as often as you can!

That's it for now. Have an amazing day and be careful in the horribly hot temps moving across the country.

Peace,

Mare

Hello There and Welcome to my Blog! It's Been a Minute...

2026-06-03T15:05:07.691-07:00

It has been quite a while since I posted anything on here, since October actually, but it's not because we are winding down or closing Glory Glory Gifts. It's due to a myriad of reasons most of which were technical issues due to old equipment.

Sometime mid last year, Google Chrome started to block many of the sites that we use daily to contact our distributors, log onto the website or eBay, where our biggest store resides. Safari did as well. No problem. We just switched to Firefox and used that instead, but little by little the things we could do on the eBay store were whittled down. Eventually the only thing that we could do, was create shipping labels and I had to use my tablet or phone to do everything else. That becomes quite burdensome when you have a store with 2,000 products on it that you have to maintain and daily sales to ship. Searching on it became a nightmare to update inventory and out of stocks, sending offers, listing new items, etc. No way was I going to download an app on either of my handheld devices to get into the website, and Godaddy, our host, wasn't really allowing access. So I decided to shut the store down on there and use it solely as a gateway to the eBay store. Long story summarized: We no longer have products for purchase on the website BUT there is a link to the eBay store so it's one step further but so much better! I was personally never thrilled with the layout of the website store anyway. I much prefer the format of the eBay marketplace store. If you have never visited it, I suggest that you do! The link is to the right of this post and we have hundreds of items to choose from! We look forward to your visit.

At the same time this was happening, I got very sick for all of February into half of March first with RSV, then bronchitis, then pneumonia, then it went back into some other kind of URI. It was a nightmare and an extremely upsetting time for me. For weeks I struggled with handling the business and keeping things as status quo as I could with customers and I prayed on it. I asked God if it was maybe time to close down and I also prayed to our newest millennial saint, Carlo Acutis (aka my tech guy) for guidance and my prayers were answered!! I found a REALLY sweet deal on a 7-year old Mac on MacSales (highly recommend!!!). A month after we got the new computer, the old computer completely died and so did the printer. Thankfully I found a new one on Target and had it delivered the next day. PTL we are 100% back in business until the good Lord tells me otherwise. Thank you Saint Carlo. You never steer me wrong.

This is our 18th year in business! I can't believe how incredibly fast that time has flown. Our goal is the same and that is to teach people how to pray and to preach the Gospels of Jesus Christ. Every item that we sell has a prayer attached to it, so it is included either physically, via a prayer card(s) or printed on the invoice. Our main prayers are The Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet more specifically. The Divine Mercy Chaplet is for the conversion of souls, even those most hardened of hearts, so it's important that I share it as it IS the reason why Glory Glory was instituted in the first place. It's an amazing prayer! Say it daily. Say it often.

On May 4th I entered The People's Artist contest, through a Facebook ad. I'm not a full-time artist but do enjoy painting and have sculpted in the past. I even had an art exhibit back in the late 70's early 80's with my sculpted works. Anywho, you know how things are with Facebook and bots, they flagged my account, for a bogus charge (as were hundreds of other artists just looking for votes) and I'm not allowed to run any ads (boo hoo), monetize my account (again boo hoo), create or share any videos (SAY WHAT???), until mid-July. Not a big deal that I can't run ads on there since they basically said that targeting Christians or Catholics is not inclusive so it is not allowed. That IS my target audience isn't' it? So yeah, haven't advertised in quite a few years, but don't expect any videos until July.

I received the most amazing gift for my birthday this year and have actually wanted it for the longest time. You know how things go... You really want something but there is always a reason why you have to put it off. Murphy's Law shows his ugly little head. My present? The Ethiopian Bible in English. I believe that it is the earliest version of the Bible dating back to the 300's and was originally written in the Ge-ez language (classic Ethiopian). I love how it is written, especially the additional books. It's very straight forward without the thees and thous and point blank says things like: Jesus healed a leper. Jesus healed Kepha's (Peter) mother from a fever, so she got up and started to serve them. I love that about it, but it doesn't stop me from reading my other Bible that I've had since 1989. (That one is filled with markings in the margins and highlighted sentences.) Anyway, I know that the protestants always attack the Catholics about our veneration of Mary as the Mother of God and how it isn't Biblical and guess what? It is CLEARLY stated in the Ethiopian Bible. Not only that, it also says to pray TO her to ask her Son's intercession. So the veneration of Mary is very much Biblical and has been since a Bible was first written. Also, there are separate books called Täˀammərä Maryam (Miracles of Mary) and also Ta'amra Iyesus (Miracles of Jesus). Miracles of Mary (English name) includes not only veneration of her as the Mother of God, but also her assumption into heaven. The Miracles of Jesus are actually the missing years from birth to 12 and includes several stories about Him. I haven't actually read them yet, but, I have read the Gnostic Gospels and it sounds like they are the same or very similar. We have a toddler running around our house, and he is a handful, so I can't imagine poor Yosef and Miriam admonishing a God child. Whew. That takes some divine intervention 😇. I know that the Ethiopian Bible can be found on the internet, so look it up for yourselves. (I read Enoch on here years ago.) I highly recommend it and especially enjoyed the Book 83, The Covenant II, which includes the Mary passages and Book 88 The Canticles, which is just lovely.

Another fascinating book to read is Jesus in Egypt. That is filled with stories handed down through the Coptic generations of the Holy Family's time there after their flight from Bethlehem. It's written by Paul Perry and has some truly amazing tales of the infant Jesus. Check it out.

The United States is going to be consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 11th. To prepare for this, the Novena to the Sacred Heart has begun (as of yesterday) and will be said for the 9 days leading up to the consecration. I'm sure EWTN will have some kind of coverage on it, so check your listings! Also, you can have the novena delivered right to your email daily, which is a terrific reminder, from the good folks at PrayMoreNovenas.org. Check them out!

Last, we have so many new and beautiful collections at the store! Here are just a few of our newest so get on over to Glory Glory Gifts eBay store! The link is to the right of the post.

Have a blessed and beautiful day in the Lord and don't forget to say your prayers!

Mare

Blessings of Autumn to You!

2025-10-27T12:47:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the end of October and I just ordered some last minute candy for the little munchkins that will be heading here on Friday. Other than that, I don't celebrate Halloween anymore as the secular occasion that it is. I leave my festive lights and celebratory decor for the real holiday on December 25th. Though, I do love to see the little ones in their costumes. That doesn't mean that I don't celebrate all Hallows Eve though. I do, with a Mass and extra prayers, as well as All Saints Day which is November 1st and a holy day of obligation in the Catholic Church. Every soul that is in heaven is celebrated on that day, and I mean ALL, and I believe I know many that have attained that glorious place with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and all those that have gone before us. What a glorious day to remember them all. All Souls Day, which is November 2nd, is another day of prayer and remembrance. Don't forget to celebrate both of those days and all those that we know and love that are no longer with us.

I have been having many health problems lately and have been putting the ebay store on vacation mode. (The website is always open for business, but has mostly sterling products available.) Even though the store is on vacation mode, we usually leave it so that you can still purchase items. Thank God, Tom has been filling my shoes and taking care of the orders for me, as well as the other administrative things that go along with running a business. The reason why we put it on vacation mode is because ebay has strict guidelines that we must stick to, like our handling and shipping time, and the time away mode gives us a bit of breathing room. Items still ship, just a little slower and emails may not be answered right away, but it still works well and we haven't gotten any complaints about it. I would love to say that it won't happen again, but that's just not how life works, so I expect we will continue to do that until at least the end of the year.

We have an amazing collection that is being added to the ebay store and that is Art Deco framing! All of them have 8" x 10" pictures with 11 1/4" x 13 1/4" art deco frames. They are all gorgeous pictures and are made in Italy. Prices currently starting at $65.99 with free shipping! Here's one of our beautiful Sacred Heart of Jesus prints.

You can find all our pictures, plaques and icons at our ebay store at: https://www.ebay.com/str/gloryglorygifts/Pictures-Icons/_i.html?store_cat=50747474013.

Just a reminder, we have many forms of payment available at our ebay store, now including Venmo!! Start your holiday shopping now and give faith based gifts this year.

Have an incredible day, in the Lord and a fabulous Autumn!

Peace,

Mare

I'm Just SO Ecstatic!! New News Too!

2025-06-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

Somehow, someway, my original Facebook account has been restored!! Woot! Woot! Sadly, we lost 25 or more followers while we were banished but hopefully we will regain them again in the not too distant future!

My tale of woe is that in the end of November of last year, someone created two fake insta accounts, one in my name and the other one by the name of PatDM, and stole the identity of our FB BUSINESS page. They then posted something nasty and META took down those two accounts as well as MY business page, personal page, Insta account, and FB marketplace listings. Everything was gone with absolutely NO way to appeal them. I'm at a loss as to how a page, that is linked to my private page, can be affected without my private page being affected, but oh well. To say that I was devastated is an understatement. I rely on the Facebook business page to showcase our new products and to lose it at the peak of our annual sales was just awful. Also, to lose contact with your friends and family over the holidays is just so upsetting too!

Last week, I was lying down, playing a game on my tablet, and saw an email from FB saying that my page was republished. I was sceptical but got up and looked and sure enough, it was back. That has definitely made my year, so it's good to be back. The new (old) biz page now has daily Catholic prayers and showcases a product so feel free to follow it! https://www.facebook.com/GloryGloryGifts.

Our ebay store now accepts MANY forms of payment including Khlarna! So many easy ways to pay! Paypal also offers Paypal credit, which you can pay for in installments. You can find the link to the store to the right of this post.

Ebay now has some of its seller's products showing on the Facebook marketplace! The products will be shown on the marketplace, however, when you click to purchase an item, you will be redirected to the ebay store to complete the transaction. All payments, tax collection, shipping, returns, etc., will be handled by ebay and the ebay seller. If you aren't aware of this already, ebay has an excellent buyer protection program, so you can shop with all sellers through the Facebook marketplace with confidence.

Our ebay store is actually larger than our website, as far as products available, but as always ~ if you are looking for something specific and don't see it ~ ASK US! Ebay has a messaging systems. Our website now has a chat function! We will get back to you.

So that's all the news for June 2025, so far. Have a fabulous month and keep smiling. Jesus loves you and so do I.

Peace,

Mare

Is It 17 Years Already?

2025-04-02T12:15:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we are (I am) still here and working with Glory Glory Gifts. This year, marks our 17th year in business. If someone had told me, way back in 2008, that I would still be doing this I would never have believed them. In fact, I remember being at a barbecue back in the early Summer of 2008 and mentioning that I was going to be selling holy land products and people actually laughed in my face. They thought it was a joke. We (me with Tom's help) started very small. I wasn't quite sure how I was supposed to do this, but it slowly evolved from a flea market/fair business to where we are today. The website was started in 2010, while I was convalescing, and had about 300 olive wood crosses & statues, crystal, hematite and scented rosaries, nativities, ornaments, incense, icons, incense burners, ceramic pieces and jewelry available. After working hard to create the website, and upload all those products on there, as well as payment buttons from Paypal, a friend actually said to me that's it? That's all you got? 😃 (I seriously needed to find more supportive friends.) I'm sure that same friend would say the same if she saw today's version of the website, which has only a little over a thousand products. But, my business model today is the same one that I was given back in 2008 and that is to, "bring prayer to those that no longer come to My Father's house." The products are a nice way to subsidize it and are my means to an end. It is solely by the grace and goodness of God that I'm still able to do this, and have done it, through many health and family crises.

In November of last year, I faced an incredible setback when someone created a fake instagram account, stole my identity of the facebook business page, and then posted erotic and disturbing posts. Meta took down every single thing I ever did on Facebook, including my personal page, biz page and marketplace listings. There was nothing of me, or Glory Glory Gifts left on there. I ceased to exist on there, after 15 years of hard work and dedication to my thousand followers. It was a tough decision, but, in February I decided to just create a new page on there for myself. Last month, I created the Glory Glory Gifts Prayer Page. I actually prayed for direction and that is exactly what I got, direction. Alleluia! So the new page was born.

Also last year, our house was completely gutted and the interior rebuilt because of issues. All products were removed from the website and the ebay store was open only a few days over a 7-month period. Literally half of our products were removed from it as well, so our sales were erratic and 1/8 of prior years. Sigh. The very good news is that both sites are once again up and operating and we are all settled into our newly refurbished home space. Products are being added almost daily to our ebay store, we are restocking out of stock items and bringing in new collections!

The moral of the story? Keep going! If God has given you a mission to accomplish, well then do it through all of the obstacles that you come across. If God brought you to it, He will bring you through it. (Which reminds me, I got a new St. Benedict medal hanging from my neck.) (Look! Squirrel!)

This week, we will be replenishing many of our popular items, like our auto statuettes, mini-prayer books and our very popular Blessed Trinity Book of Catholic prayers. They should be in by Friday.

Moving onward and upward with great enthusiasm, I'm introducing some new products that we are getting in May. How AMAZING are these? Prices start at $43.99 USD.

We also have two new collections of framed art available right now at the ebay store, with gold and silver leaf frames that are 3.5" x 4.5", made in Italy. Currently $24.99 with free shipping.

Beautiful!! Aren't they? You can find all of these products at the Ebay store. We look forward to working with you. https://www.ebay.com/str/gloryglorygifts.

Have a blessed day in the Lord.

Mare

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

2024-08-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

The Rich Man

¹⁷As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. ¹⁹But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’^[a]”

²⁰“Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”

²¹Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²²At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

²³Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” ²⁴This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard^[b] to enter the Kingdom of God. ²⁵In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

²⁶The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.

²⁷Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”

²⁸Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said.

²⁹“Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, ³⁰will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. ³¹But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.^[c]”

I do love this story in the Bible but recently it has become even more poignant. It makes me think of people that have lost everything that they own in a natural disaster or accident. It makes me think of homeless people that are believers in Christ. Think of how close they are to Him; the poorest of the poor as well from all over the world. The last will be first when entering into the gates of heaven.

We are in the process of renovating my home and business area and I have moved to my first floor, while the rest of the house is being finalized. Somehow, someway, in the chaos that was my old upper floors, every single thing that either meant something significant, or I needed, was thrown out. (My towels and bed linens, books, CD's, and kitchen things survived the move.) They literally moved down two floors, not across the world. But, I'm extremely upset that 5-6 contractor bags of my clothes (pants, shirts, undies, socks, jammies, sweaters), blankets, towels, comforters, table cloths, 3 cases of family pictures and memories, (most of Tom as a baby and as he grew), a mandolin, my original artwork going back 22 years, my original writings going back 50 years, letters and postcard from my parents and grandparents, friends and even ex-love interests, original documents in a safe (yes, they threw out an actual SAFE), a hefty scarf collection (fashion), winter coat, my mom's wedding dress, my son's/brother's/grandfather's Christening gown and outfit, my parent's wedding cake topper and album, and pieces of artwork my Mom had made as well as prints of artists that I love, my clothes rack for drying, my bureau mirror and collector dolls and antiques. Yes, it's all stuff. Yes, I am beyond upset and angry over it. These were the items I decided to keep after meticulously going through the house purging and boxing things up for donations. 49 boxes went to the Vietnam Veterans of America and another 3 contractor bags of clothing and shoes went to St. Mary's. Probably 100 bags of garbage were discarded as well. I have to say that it was Incredibly exhilarating to unburden myself of all of those items. Even my discarded furniture, which were antiques, found good homes.

Contemplating this story now, I see myself in the rich man AND in the disciples. My heart is like the disciples ~ full of love for Christ and wanting to be as near to him as possible. My life was more like the rich man though ~ filled with material stuff. Prior to my purge I would have given Him that horrified look too. You want me to do what?? Give away all my stuff??

The good news is that I've reached the point now, after living with the reality for a few months, where I'm ready to let go of more of my items that are currently sitting in the garage, It's items that I wanted to keep initially. They no longer hold the importance that they once did, even just a few months ago.

I will miss seeing all my baby's milestones and the family and friends I have lost over the years in my albums, but maybe losing the rest is a good thing. If I'm sick over everything that I lost, maybe I put WAY too much emphasis on my material things and not enough on my spiritual growth. God has knocked me on the head in the past to get my attention. Maybe this is another knock to help me to let go and let God. I think that I will do just that.

Here's hoping that you can do the same.🙏

Peace,

Mare

Yes!! We are still here and open for business!

2024-08-18T16:26:00.000-07:00

A heartfelt hello to all of you. Yes, we are very much open for business, despite our construction, consolidation and move to our new locations!

We apologize for the disruption. I started to pack up in April, we started demolition in May and construction then as well. I moved the beginning of June, to our first floor, and our upper floors are still under construction, as is our new warehouse for our products. It's been slow going, with quite a few hiccups, but what construction job ever runs smoothly? I am very much looking to a finish to it and settling in.

Glory Glory Gifts is alive and well and all products can be found at our eBay store! You can find the link to the right of this post.

Enjoy the remainder of the Summer and God bless.

Mare

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Said Daily at 3:00 P.M. on a Standard Rosary

2022-03-15T11:57:00.001-07:00

CHAPLET OF THE DIVINE MERCY

Optional Opening Prayers:

You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls,
and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world.
O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy,
envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.

(Repeat 3 times) O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You!

Our Father, Hail Mary and the Apostle's Creed

For each of the five decades (On each “Our Father” bead of the rosary, pray)

Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

(On each of the 10 “Hail Mary” beads, pray)
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Concluding prayer (Repeat 3 times)
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Optional Closing Prayer
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2021-09-25T11:24:00.015-07:00

Gospel reading from Saturday, September 18,2021, Luke 8:4-15:

When a large crowd gathered, with people from one town after another
journeying to Jesus, he spoke in a parable.
“A sower went out to sow his seed.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path and was trampled,
and the birds of the sky ate it up.
Some seed fell on rocky ground, and when it grew,
it withered for lack of moisture.
Some seed fell among thorns,
and the thorns grew with it and choked it.
And some seed fell on good soil, and when it grew,
it produced fruit a hundredfold.”
After saying this, he called out,
“Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”

Then his disciples asked him
what the meaning of this parable might be.
He answered,
“Knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God
has been granted to you;
but to the rest, they are made known through parables
so that they may look but not see, and hear but not understand.

“This is the meaning of the parable.
The seed is the word of God.
Those on the path are the ones who have heard,
but the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts
that they may not believe and be saved.
Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear,
receive the word with joy, but they have no root;
they believe only for a time and fall away in time of temptation.
As for the seed that fell among thorns,
they are the ones who have heard, but as they go along,
they are choked by the anxieties and riches and pleasures of life,
and they fail to produce mature fruit.
But as for the seed that fell on rich soil,
they are the ones who, when they have heard the word,
embrace it with a generous and good heart,
and bear fruit through perseverance.”

Just as a seed needs light, water, and rich soil to grow so too does faith need to be nurtured and tended to every day. Search your soul truthfully and fully. Are you growing daily in faith? Are you sharing it? Do you live it? How is the seed that God has planted in you growing?

Peace,

Mare

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy

2021-09-17T10:07:00.002-07:00

A prayer for the dying, those in dire need of mercy and for the end times, the Divine Mercy Chaplet is said daily at 3:00 P.M. If you are unable to say it at that time, you can devoutly say, "Jesus, I trust in You" at 3:00 P.M. and recite the chaplet at any other time of the day. It is also recommended that you say it often.

It is said on a traditional rosary.

1. Make the Sign of the Cross

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

2. Optional Opening Prayers

St. Faustina’s Prayer for Sinners
O Jesus, eternal Truth, our Life, I call upon You and I beg Your mercy for poor sinners. O sweetest Heart of my Lord, full of pity and unfathomable mercy, I plead with You for poor sinners. O Most Sacred Heart, Fount of Mercy from which gush forth rays of inconceivable graces upon the entire human race, I beg of You light for poor sinners. O Jesus, be mindful of Your own bitter Passion and do not permit the loss of souls redeemed at so dear a price of Your most precious Blood. O Jesus, when I consider the great price of Your Blood, I rejoice at its immensity, for one drop alone would have been enough for the salvation of all sinners. Although sin is an abyss of wickedness and ingratitude, the price paid for us can never be equalled. Therefore, let every soul trust in the Passion of the Lord, and place its hope in His mercy. God will not deny His mercy to anyone. Heaven and earth may change, but God's mercy will never be exhausted. Oh, what immense joy burns in my heart when I contemplate Your incomprehensible goodness, O Jesus! I desire to bring all sinners to Your feet that they may glorify Your mercy throughout endless ages (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 72).

You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.

(Repeat three times)
O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You!

3. Our Father

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, Amen.

4. Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst 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.

5. The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; He descended into hell; on the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

6. The Eternal Father

Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

7. On the 10 Small Beads of Each Decade

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

8. Repeat for the remaining decades

Saying the "Eternal Father" (6) on the "Our Father" bead and then 10 "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion" (7) on the following "Hail Mary" beads.

9. Conclude with Holy God (Repeat three times)

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

10. Optional Closing Prayers

Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion — inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.

O Greatly Merciful God, Infinite Goodness, today all mankind calls out from the abyss of its misery to Your mercy — to Your compassion, O God; and it is with its mighty voice of misery that it cries out. Gracious God, do not reject the prayer of this earth's exiles! O Lord, Goodness beyond our understanding, Who are acquainted with our misery through and through, and know that by our own power we cannot ascend to You, we implore You: anticipate us with Your grace and keep on increasing Your mercy in us, that we may faithfully do Your holy will all through our life and at death's hour. Let the omnipotence of Your mercy shield us from the darts of our salvation’s enemies, that we may with confidence, as Your children, await Your [Son’s] final coming — that day known to You alone. And we expect to obtain everything promised us by Jesus in spite of all our wretchedness. For Jesus is our Hope: through His merciful Heart, as through an open gate, we pass through to heaven (Diary, 1570).

We do have rosary beads and Divine Mercy Chaplet beads at our store if you need them! Just click on the link to the right of this post.

Blessed Carlo and Saint Jose'

2021-08-30T10:04:00.014-07:00

I came across this amazing video of Carlo Acutis the other day. Of course, I can't find it now, but this one captures the spirit of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cd6LU318Tk .

Carlo is near and dear to my heart as a fellow Eucharistic adorer, but also because he was a computer "geek." I love that he is wearing his sneakers and track suit for his trip to eternity as well. I'm a sneakers kind of gal myself.

While watching the other video, I was wondering what thoughts go thru his mother's head as she looks upon the incorrupted body of her son, Carlo? She's a stronger woman than I am, as I was sitting here in a puddle of tears just contemplating it. She is prominent in the video looking at her son and walking among the clergy present. It must be awesome, in the truest form of the word, to see him looking just as he must have all the nights she, and his father, looked in on him as he grew. How does one reconcile the little boy, so full of life, joy, and his every day life to be the boy on the road to sainthood lying before them now?

He was just an ordinary boy with an extraordinary devotion to Christ in the Eucharist when he received Him at the age of 7. A few years later he devoted his time to cataloguing all the Eucharistic miracles on a website. I personally know how time consuming websites can be but I'm sure that the Holy Spirit gave him tenacity in spades to get his mission accomplished. He died, in 2006, at the age of 15 from leukemia, but his website lives on for all of us. https://www.miracolieucaristici.org.

"The more Eucharist that you receive, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of heaven." ~ Carlo Acutis

He attended Mass daily, received the Eucharist as often as he could and also advocated for the Rosary. Carlo is a Saint for our times.

Another remarkable young man was St. Jose' Luis Sanchez de Rio. St. Jose', who was canonized on October 16, 2016, was a young martyr for the church. Jose' received Communion whenever possible and prayed the Rosary often as well. He was killed during the "Cristero" War aka Christ the King which ran from 1926-1929. The war was a result of the tensions which erupted between the Catholic Church and the State. The church felt that the State was anti-religious and encroaching on their freedom. At a tender age of 14, Jose' begged his Mother to allow him to join his brothers, as soldiers for the Catholic faith but, of course, his mother said no. Again, another young man with tenacity, he kept asking and eventually became a soldier. As his story goes on, Jose' gave his horse to General Guizar Morfín, who had lost his own to enemy fire. Jose' was ultimately captured and tortured by the anti-Cristeros soldiers. They imprisoned and violently tortured him ignoring efforts to free him including his family offering ransom money. Of course, José refused all attempts to rescue him, proclaiming “my faith is not for sale.” It is said that he prayed the Rosary daily throughout his imprisonment.

Jose' was then transferred to another prison, where he was told that he would be executed for his religious conviction. He was often heard praying “Long live Christ the King," while being beaten and tortured, and, "Long live Holy Mary of Guadalupe!” He died just one month short of his 15th birthday by execution in Sahuayo, Mexico, which was also his birthplace. As he was being lead to his death he was shouting repeatedly, Viva Christo Rey! Though he died in 1929, St. Jose's body is incorrupted. Here's a short video about him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-p8yiFcbYI .

“Mama, do not let me lose the opportunity to gain Heaven so easily and so soon”. ~ St. Jose' Sanchez de Rio

They had very different lifestyles and lived in differing countries and times in history but I know for a fact that they have one thing in common. I am SURE that they were raised in a devout, Catholic, family that lived the faith daily and taught it to their children. They were also both taught the importance of prayer and how to keep Christ as the center of their lives.

As we just celebrated the feast days of St. Monica and her son St. Augustine, I am reminded of just how much prayer can move mountains. St. Augustine was a handful, just like my own Thomas. A friend of mine that is a priest, Fr. Ed., used to refer to me as St. Monica because every time he saw me I was either crying or near tears. St. Monica is often called the Mother of Tears because of the ones she shed for her wayward son. Augustine wrote in his book:

"Thus you gave another answer through your priest, a certain bishop nurtured in the Church and trained in your books. When that woman implored him to consider speaking with me, to refute my errors, un-teach me evil, and teach me good…he refused her, quite prudently, as I understood later. He responded that I was as yet indocile, that I was inflated with my heresy’s novelty… “but let him be. Only pray for him to the Lord: he will discover by reading what his error is…” She would not acquiesce to what he said but continued imploring… “Go away,” he said, “while you live, the son of these tears of yours shall not perish!” (The Confessions of St. Augustine III, 12)

In order to be a saint, you have to be close to God. In order to raise a saint, you have to teach your children how to be close to God.

What are you doing to raise a Saint? What are you doing to be a Saint? Start with prayer.

How are Tom and I doing? We are works in progress.

In the meantime, we have two amazing young Saints to look to as examples of what faith in the times of struggle can be and we ask for their intercession and guidance.

Blessed Carlo Acutis, pray for us.

Saint Jose' Luis Sanchez de Rio, pray for us.

Peace,

Mare

Charles Baudelaire was Right

2021-08-16T11:15:00.001-07:00

“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”~ Charles Baudelaire

Okay, so I decided that I'm going to finally talk about something that I very much dislike talking about and have mentioned to very few people. It's a subject that nobody talks about anymore, not even priests and religious people discuss him. Sure, the subject can pack a movie house or drive up ratings on a t.v. show, but it's something that people rarely tell their friends about because a) it scares the crap out of them, b) they are afraid they won't believe them or c) they are afraid of being viewed as a weirdo and losing the friend. Still, I think that it is important to talk about him, and what attracts him to you, because he tries and does ruin many lives and souls. What you are about to read are true stories and resulted in devastating effects on both me and my family, but I'm not going to share all of the details, just the manifestations. Entities can and do mess with people and their lives and I do believe that every terrible event that happened to our family is a direct result of having this entity in our house, for decades.

"Infestation. This is “haunted house” type stuff: footsteps, voices, apparitions, furniture or other objects moving without human agency, odors with no discernible source. Rather than directly affecting people, infestations affect only property, objects, or even animals." ~ Father Gabriel Amorth, chief exorcist of Rome.

"Oppression. Activity steps up with physical attacks, sleep disturbances including regular nightmares, frequent and severe illnesses, major depression or anxiety, severe financial or employment problems, and relationship troubles. While these things happen in the normal course of life, all of them happening at once or in rapid succession could be a sign of demonic presence." ~ Father Gabriel Amorth, chief exorcist of Rome.

I have to start this by saying that I don't know how the entity was invited into our house, but do think I'm to blame. My family wasn't overtly religious, but we did pray together as a family, go to church on Sundays and holy days, fast, abstain from meat on Fridays, etc. My Dad went to first Friday Adoration and Benediction, so I believe that up until a certain time we repelled them.

When I was in my early teens my friends and I used to mess around with a ouija board. We all had a good laugh over it and, at the time, I really thought my friends were pushing the planchette to the letters. We also messed around with spells, divination, and seances as a friend of a friend was heavily into the occult. At the same time that this was happening I found a Satanic Bible in the bookshelf in my brothers' room. I never asked anyone about it, but did flip through it, read parts of it, and then got freaked out and put it back. That brother was in college at the time, so it might have been for a class. I just know he was never a satanist. But what I do know is that just a few years after this is when I had my encounter.

I was around 18, and slightly buzzed by a whiskey and ginger and was lying on the couch by myself after a sexual encounter, and alone in the house. My eyes were closed when I was overcome by the smell of decay and I opened my eyes to see a HUGE, black skinned creature hovering over my body. It was so big that I couldn't see anything but it, and the smell of it was absolutely wretched. The closest I've ever come to reliving that awful smell is a a dead animal in the heat, x 10. The skin looked like it was burned wood, rough and coarse like it had been in a fire. The demon smiled at me and chuckled and I heard it's amusement but not with my ears. The teeth were rotten, yellowed and black, broken, and I turned my head in disgust. I'm seriously surprised that i controlled my bladder, because it was terrifying. Oddly, I felt that it was very happy with me and my life choices at the time and did not feel threatened, which is even more terrifying to me now than it was at the time. I did see it's eyes, which were amber but no other part above them. It's mouth, neck and chest was about 6" away from my face, so I was too close for comfort and could see and smell it too well. The entire encounter lasted only about a minute or 2 and then it disappeared.

I was a teen at the midst of the 70's so do I need say more? Nothing was off limits with drugs, alcohol and sex to excess with everyone. Also, I was into psychics, mediums, crystals, seances, horoscopes, tarot cards, fortune tellers, and Gnostic and pagan prayers.

Fast forward 20 years when my Mother was on her deathbed. We used to take shifts so that someone was always in the house with her, and her day nurse. Hospice had told us that many times the dying have experiences with seeing people and things that we can't see. It's a normal part of the body dying and it's as if they have one foot here and the other in the afterlife. (I've spoken on here before about my Mom mentioning the silver cord that connects all living things here to each other and to God.) One afternoon my oldest bro and his fiance, and I, were in the room with my Mom and she was looking all around and said that her room was filled with angels. I said, "oh! Angels are good!" She said, "not all of them are good. Some are bad and they are fighting over my soul." I think of this often when I say prayers that mention those fragile last moments of a person's life. I know that there is a battle for a soul up to the moment of death. So, if you say a prayer and there is a line that is asking for assistance at the hour of death, you are praying for it literally, not figuratively.

One night a relative, who was staying over in the guest room, was woken up because he felt a strong presence in the room looking at him. He saw an entity in the corner of the room, who's head touched the 8' ceiling. It was the same one that I had seen years earlier (we spoke about it only once to validate what we had both seen). He was smart though and said, "In the name of Jesus Christ, leave this house." The entity started to squirm and grunt and was not happy. In all he said it 3x and the entity disappeared.

My Mom passed away peacefully a few days after that. The house was subsequently cleansed and blessed by a priest.

It was after her death that my own reversion story started and that I found myself once again in full communion with the Catholic church.

Today, I feel closer to Christ than I have ever felt in my entire life. That's why I'm sharing this history of myself ~ in the hope that it saves someone else.

Even the most seemingly inane things can open you up to dangerous entities. Read a few books from exorcists, Fr. Gabriel Amorth, and Fr. Malachi Martin come to mind, or the one by Jesse Romero and see the damage that it can do. It is a fact that exorcisms are on the rise all over the world. Here's a great article about it from the AP from last Autumn: https://apnews.com/article/portland-san-francisco-oregon-cff13a56cd41997553ea3e9a8fc21384.

Yeah, this is all a bit of an odd tale but it is also a cautionary tale. Stay away from anything that can open you up to an uninvited guest. If you are attending something that invokes a spirit to cure you or whatever, RUN. Incantations, are highly dangerous. Reiki, highly dangerous. Yoga incantations, highly dangerous. Astrology, dangerous. Crystals, oils and incense with incantations, highly dangerous. Ouija, beyond highly dangerous. Seances, beyond highly dangerous. Black masses just for the fun of it? Don't go anywhere near them. Same with witchery and sorcery of any kind.

Here is an excerpt from the Fr. Malachi Martin interview on the Art Bell show:

MM: “… for instance let me explain something to you ... for a long time we heard about something called transcendental meditation … the essence of it was that you made your mind blank and you channeled … the difficulty of it is this – if you do that you are a sitting duck … you open the door and you say ‘Come in!’ … and the same thing with a Ouija board and the same thing with mini-channelling activities … “

AB: “It’s not necessarily it’s not the board yourself that’s just cardboard – “

MM: “That’s right.”

AB: “- but if you use it in this manner you’re issuing an open invitation?”

MM: “That’s right and you’re saying ‘the door is open, please come in whoever you are!’ … and you can’t do that with impunity! … you can’t do that with impunity! … and in many cases we’re dealing with today [presumably cases of demonic possession] starts with something as simple as the Ouija board and using it as a play thing … but it [playing with the Ouija] got serious … and there are spiritual séances of the same kind … channeling … waiting for them to talk … oh they talk!”~ end quote

Divination of any kind is dangerous. Divination, Latin form divinare meaning "to foresee" or "be inspired by a god" is the practice of invoking supernatural creatures to foresee what will happen in the future or for monetary gain.

"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer" Deuteronomy 18:10

I can't change my own history, but I can warn people not to touch this stuff. If only I had listened to someone decades ago, but no, I knew better than they did (who hasn't used that excuse?). Besides, not only is it incredibly stupid, it's a SIN.

“When faith in God declines, idolatry and irrationality increase; man must then look elsewhere for answers to his meaningful questions. The principle of total and complete liberty apart from God and the denial of truth itself are indeed seductive in appearance but ultimately fail to satisfy the “desires of the human heart.” ~ Fr. Gabriel Amorth

” Extreme danger arises when these demonic spirits are invited into a person’s life..."

~ Fr. Gabriel Amorth

If you feel that you have opened yourself up to something that may be evil, I urge you to contact a priest, go to Confession, go to Holy Communion. STOP doing whatever it is that you did or are doing.

The devil and his minions are very much real and not a metaphor. I sincerely hope and pray that you never find that out for yourself. Please be mindful of the things you do, listen to and watch. Most importantly, grow closer to God. That's the best thing that you can do for yourself and your soul and to keep you and your loved ones safe.

Peace,

Mare

St. Michael Prayer for Protection

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, Oh prince of the Heavenly Host, cast into hell satan and all the even spirits who wander around the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen

A Prayer to St. Benedict for Protection

“O glorious St. Benedict, sublime model of all virtues, pure vessel of God's grace! Behold me, humbly kneeling at thy feet. I implore thy loving heart to pray for me before the throne of God. To thee I have recourse in all the dangers which daily surround me. Shield me against my enemies, inspire me to imitate thee in all things. May thy blessing be with me always, so that I may shun whatever God forbids and avoid the occasions of sin.

Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces of which I stand so much in need, in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life. Thy heart was always so full of love, compassion, and mercy towards those who were afflicted or troubled in any way. Thou didst never dismiss without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to thee. I therefore invoke thy powerful intercession, in the confident hope that thou wilt hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I so earnestly implore (mention it), if it be for the greater glory of God and the welfare of my soul.

Help me, O great St. Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to be ever submissive to His holy will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.

Amen.”

The Meltdown, The Aftermath and My Real Morning Routine

2021-08-11T12:31:00.003-07:00

I had a serious meltdown a few weeks ago and, to make matters worse, splashed it all over Twitter. I'm not quite sure where it came from but part of it had to be the fact that I was suffering with a staph infection from H E double toothpicks. Then, of course, I had an awful reaction to the antibiotic, which it turns out has a black box warning (my esophagus wishes it knew that). Usually, I keep my whiny, pity parties to myself but no ~ there it is on Twitter for all to see.

But, something miraculous happened that immediately lifted my spirits and made me feel valued and loved as an individual. Within minutes I started to get comments, likes, retweets and messages all telling me that I was being prayed for and that God loved me. It was an overwhelming joy to see them all. Some were very concerned with what I should do with my time, which was awe inspiring.

The truth is, though, that I have a pretty unique life as compared to others. It's different, to say the least, but I reach people every day (even though my wings have been clipped) and, according to Tom, make a difference in their lives. My day is filled with working at my business, which promotes prayer and faith through its products, this blog, our biz page, our Bible study page and I pray, a LOT. Aside from meals, and a few shows I watch, that's it. That's my life. As all of those on Twitter and my son pointed out, that's the most important thing that I can do ~ Make a difference in a life, and pray.

I wanted to share my morning prayers with you all. They are the first thing that I do when I swing my feet over the side of the bed in the morning. Sometimes, I even start them before I open my eyes and way before any caffeine is flowing through my veins. If you say these prayers, they take about 17-20 minutes, depending on what your intentions are; I have a long list of individuals I pray for.

Print them out. Enjoy them. Make time to say them, and by the time you have your coffee you will have prayed for so many people and souls! God bless and have a good day.

Mare

The * denotes a new prayer.

*Oh my God, I thank thee from my heart for having watched over me this day and for bringing me now to the beginning of a new day. 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.

*In the name of God I commence this day. I will avoid sin and everything that leads to it, and I pledge myself to Jesus Christ forever. Glory be to the Father who created me; Glory be to the Son who redeemed me; Glory be to the Holy Spirit who sanctifies me.

*My God, I offer thee this day, all I may think or do or say. Uniting all with what is done by Jesus Christ, thy only Son. Oh my God I believe in thee. Oh my God I hope in thee. Oh my God I love thee with my whole heart and soul.

*Sweet heart of Jesus I implore, that I should love thee more and more.

*Sweet heart of Mary be my salvation.

*Oh good Jesus bless me and all who are near and dear to me. St. Joseph pray for me. St. Michael and my holy patron saints pray for me.

*Oh angel of God, my guardian dear. To whom God's love commits you here, ever this day be at my side. To light and guard to rule and guide. Amen.

*Oh Mary, my Queen and my Mother! I give myself entirely to thee, I consecrate to thee this day my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my whole being, without reserve. Wherefore good Mother, as I am thine own, keep me and guard me as they property and possession. Amen.

*Oh Jesus, through the Immaculate heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day, for all of the intentions of thy Sacred Heart in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world in reparation for my sins, those of my associates and in particular for the intentions of the holy Father. Amen.

*The Angelus

The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, and she conceived by the Holy Spirit (Hail Mary..)

Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done unto me according to thy word (Hail Mary...)

and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us (Hail Mary....)

Let us pray, pour forth we beseech thee Oh Lord, thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His passion and cross be brought to the glory of His resurrection through the same Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

*St. Gertrude prayer: Eternal Father I offer thee, the most precious blood of thy divine Son in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory.

*The Novena of the day is done now. Monday: Mirculous Medal, Tuesday: St. Anthony, Wednesday: Elizabeth Ann Seton, Thursday, St. Jude, Friday: Serran Novena for vocations.

*Prayer for the sick and those in need: Lord God, by whose wise providence the destinies of men are ordered. Graciously hear the prayers of your people united to one another by faith and love.

We pray for those who are ill that God give them courage and resignation to His Will, and then, if He sees fit in His mercy, relief from their sufferings. Grant it Oh Lord, we humbly pray.

We pray for the unemployed, the hungry, the homeless, for those suffering persecution or privation of any sort, and for those addicted to drugs or liquor, that God in his mercy help them through their trials, until they regain their heritage of freedom and happiness. Grant it Oh Lord, we humbly pray.

Oh God our refuge and our strength and source of all goodness, hear the holy prayers of your church and grant that we may obtain what we have asked in faith, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

*Fatima Prayers

My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You. I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love you.

Oh most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly. I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners.

Most Holy Trinity, I adore You! My God, my God, I love You in the most Blessed Sacrament.

(For offering a suffering to Him) Oh Jesus this is for the love of You, for the conversion of poor sinners, and in reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Amen.

Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need.

*Prayer to my Patron Saints: Glorious saint(s), my beloved patron(s), you served God in humility and confidence on earth. Now you enjoy his beatific vision in heaven. You persevered til death and gained the crown of eternal life. Remember now the dangers and confusion and anguish that surround me and intercede for me in my needs and troubles, especially..... Amen.

*St. Michael prayer

O glorious St. Michael, guardian and defender of the Church of Jesus Christ, come to the assistance of this Church, against whom the powers of hell are unchained, guard with especial care her august Head, and obtain that for him and for us the hour of triumph may speedily arrive. O glorious Archangel St. Michael, watch over us during life, defend us against the assaults of the demon, assist us especially at the hour of death; obtain for us a favorable judgment, and the happiness of beholding God face to face for all eternity. St. Michael, intercede for me with God in all my necessities, especially (name it). Obtain for me a favorable outcome in the matter I recommend to you. Mighty prince of the heavenly host and victor over rebellious spirits, remember me for I am weak and sinful and so prone to pride and ambition. Be for me, I pray, my powerful aid in temptation and difficulty and above all do not forsake me in my last struggle with the powers of evil. Amen.

*Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Oh Holy Spirit, You are the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. You are the Spirit of truth, love and holiness, proceeding from the Father and the Son, and equal to Them in all things. I adore You and love You with all my heart. Teach me to know and to seek God, by whom and for whom I was created. Fill my heart with a holy fear and a great love for Him. Give me compunction and patience, and do not let me fall into sin.

Increase faith, hope and charity in me and bring forth in me all the virtues proper to my state of life. Help me to grow in the four cardinal virtues, Your seven gifts and Your twelve fruits.

Make me a faithful follower of Jesus, an obedient child of the Church and a help to my neighbor. Give me the grace to keep the commandments and to receive the sacraments worthily. Raise me to holiness in the state of life to which You have called me, and lead me through a happy death to everlasting life. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Grant me also, O Holy Spirit, Giver of all good gifts, the special favor for which I ask {name special petition}, if it be for Your honor and glory and for my well being. Amen.

The Mystical in Me, Jim, and You

2021-08-04T16:16:00.011-07:00

During the crucifixion scene of The Passion of the Christ, Jim Caviezel received an interior locution. Of this locution he said,

"God spoke to me... they don't love me. There are very few."

Jim responded,

"Well, I'm going to love You and I'm going to tell You that I love you."

In 2019, Jim, along with his friend Fr. Calloway and a large group of pilgrims traveled to the holy land. After walking the Stations of the Cross, they arrived at the tomb of Jesus just after 6 A.M. The doors were closed, and Fr. Calloway was standing near them, when another fellow pilgrim took a photo of the doors. The doors looked ordinary to the eye, but the photo has an extraordinary event occurring, as there is a figure visible in them that was not present. It's a shrouded man.

In essence you have, at a minimum, two people that God directly communicated with. It happens and it seems to be happening more and more these days. It's like an incredible veil has been lifted and God is sending signs and wonders to more of those that are listening to Him.

Here is the tomb photo, which according to the youtube channel that published it, Mystic.com, it is enhanced so that you can see it:

Jim has said that he feels a deep spiritual connection to God. I get that. I feel the same connection and pretty much have for a few decades now.

My own most deep spiritual experience was when I was "told" to take a photo of the Host in the adoration chapel, Christmas day, 2011. Of course when the photos were downloaded onto the computer, I found it hard to breathe. Just as with the above photo, the Host looked ordinary to my eyes. The photo was beyond extraordinary. It's mystical, and a miracle and I was and still am awed that God shared Himself with me.I cannot say this loud enough or often enough, JESUS CHRIST IS PRESENT IN THE EUCHARIST..... Approach Him in grace and with reverence. I beg of you.

Glory Glory Gifts was created because of an interior locution. While in the adoration chapel, back in April 2008, I was told to,

"Bring prayer to those that no longer come to my Father's house."

I actually looked around to see where it came from and He repeated it because I was like, um... what? It was a direct commandment to me.

That's why I'm always harping on you all to pray. Pray always. Thank God for everything that you have. Pray for everyone even your enemies. PRAY. PRAY. AND PRAY.

Also, in case you missed it before, JESUS CHRIST IS PRESENT IN THE EUCHARIST.

Another important, but short, locution that I received, while sitting in my living room, was:

"Do not sleep with your rosary in your hand, lest you drop them on the floor..."

You should not sleep with any blessed item in your hand because of this. If you feel the need to sleep with a rosary, wrap it around your wrist so that it doesn't fall off. Put smaller blessed items in your pocket or next to your bed. Hang larger ones above your bed. I often sleep with a rosary around my wrist, particularly when I have felt attacked. That, and prayer, have helped me sleep many a night.

Who is attacking me you ask? Satan, that's who. The closer that you connect with God, the more that jerk is going to try and break up your relationship and break you down. On a daily basis, I deal with many health issues. Add to that machines breaking down for no reason, products disappearing and reappearing later,lost mail, irate customers, theft, scammers, spammers, trolls, and throw in a few stalkers for good measure. I'm having a major issue with our Word of God Bible Study page that FB hasn't been able to fix in a full two months now. I can't schedule posts. Now who do you think throws all those wrenches into our daily job of promoting prayer and spreading the Gospels? It's the darkness trying to seep into my life. The good news is, though, that God and light keeps all the darkness from taking over. It will try, but it will not win.

What's the point of this post? God speaks to those that listen. God speaks to those that speak to Him.God could be trying to get your attention right now. Are you open to Him? YOU will grow closer to him with every prayer that you utter. YOU grow closer to Him with every word in the Bible that you read. YOU grow closer to Him with every work of mercy that you do for someone. YOU grow closer to Him with every act of love that you give or show. Whatever you do for the least of your brethren, you do FOR Him. He KNOWS all about you. You need to know all about Him.

If you truly open up your heart to God you will hear Him. WE ALL have the power to be as close to God as is humanly possible. We all have a bit of mysticism in us when it comes to Him. We are all open to receive His messages and signs. You just have to look for them, and no, I'm not talking about through the new age crapola. I'm talking serious dialogue with God the Almighty, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

The mystical me wants to surrender totally and completely to God.

LOVE GOD, always. Say I love you God, every day. Be like Jim.

Pray and Listen, that is my message. By the grace and glory of God, you too will hear Him when he calls.

Mare

I'm Struggling, How Are You?

2021-07-12T10:52:00.021-07:00

To be honest, I'm struggling and grappling with so much this year. Many on social media that I see seem to be in the same boat as I am too.

Last night I spoke to my endo and there were so many things out of whack on my recent labs, that if I was a car dashboard every light would be lit, especially the check engine. My body is sick. Every indication is there, but the source is God only knows what. I just know that something is off because my motivation to do anything this Summer is nil. I'm in an inner war as I write this, to either head to the yard to say my daily afternoon prayers, or to just go and lie on the couch with a crossword and a fan blowing on me and eventually fall asleep. Of course, this all comes in the middle of the busiest year, EVER for GloryGloryGifts.com. (That never takes a backseat though. If I fall apart, Tom takes over the operation, so it never sleeps.) That's my motivation to get up and operating in the morning.

I consider myself to be very blessed though as I'm a firm believer in offering my suffering up to God as a form of prayer. There are many days that I do just that. If you ask me that is a perfect form of prayer as there aren't any distractions (come on be honest, you know you are thinking of what's for dinner, what to wear or your come back to someone that cut you off earlier during prayer). The other day I came across a meme, which I just love..... (blessings on Mel for wearing a scapular btw)

The message is a powerful one, I think. Jesus is ALWAYS present to hear our prayers and petitions. Jesus was persecuted, tortured and died for the sins of the world. Our sins. Jesus knows us to our very core and loves us anyway. Honestly, I could look at it another way too.. My suffering is nothing compared to His for me, so every little nuisance, pain, hardship and illness that I suffer can be endured because I'm doing it for Him. That's my way of acknowledging Him and all that he suffered for me. To me, that's what this picture represents. Jesus sees my heart, my soul my entire being and he listens intently when I talk to him. He offers strength, guidance and love even though I'm a fractured, imperfect, sinful human. He loves me. He loves you. He loves everyone equally and that is a beautiful thing to ponder. If you suffer for any reason, offer it up to God for the sins of the world, those that you know and don't know, and for your own. It IS the perfect prayer.

Speaking of prayer (do you see what I did there?), I have some fabulous ones that I say first thing in the morning when I swing my feet over the side of the bed. They help me in two ways. First, they offer all that I do during the day to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Second, they can and do stop me from sinning during the day. Not only say the words, but hear them when you say them. You will think of them during the day when you are tempted to sin, that I know from experience. It offers the good and bad in your day:

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I offer You my prayers, works,
joys and sufferings
of this day for all the intentions
of Your Sacred Heart,
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
throughout the world,
in reparation for my sins,
for the intentions of all my relatives and friends,
and in particular
for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen.

Beautiful, isn't it?

Among the others that I say, is the prayer to my Guardian Angel:

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits thee here. Ever this day, be at my side, to light, to guard, to rule, to guide.

Another great one to say every morning and evening.

Pray, every day and often. Offer your suffering up to God for the sins of the world, those close to you and for your own. Be as close to Christ as you can possibly be. If you have eyes to see and ears to hear, it is blatantly obvious that we need to arm ourselves with the armor of Christ. Be strong and may God be with you.

Mare

P.S. I did venture outside and was met with a glorious sun, monarch butterfly and a small group of finches eating my mulberry tree, so life is good.

John Cardinal O'Connor, the Angels and Me

2020-11-25T13:16:00.002-08:00

Lately, I've been thinking about my Mom and Dad, who I lost in 1994 and 1989 respectively. The holidays, and particularly this year, loss and solitude is weighing heavily on not only my heart, but so many others too.

But, this post isn't about loss or loneliness, it's about hope and angels and someone always having your back.

I have to start this story from the beginning, which was way back in 1994 when my Mom was ill and bedridden. In May of that year our church was having a dedication and John Cardinal O'Connor, who was the Archbishop of New York at the time, was coming to bless the new altar. My Mom had wanted to go in the worst way, but it just wasn't physically possible for her to do that. My brother was going to be at that Mass though with his family. After the service my brother managed to talk to Cardinal O'Connor and tell him about our Mom and how sad she was that she couldn't be there. Cardinal O'Connor asked for her phone number and promised my brother that he would call her once he was on his way in the car.

As they say, timing is everything... I lived in an apartment next door to my Mom and just happened to be walking over to her house when my brother excitedly pulled up and he and his family piled out of the car with him yelling, "Mare get in the house quick! Mom's getting a phone call!" I had no clue what was happening but of course we all ran into the house as the phone was ringing. Mom picked up the receiver and the moment she heard the Cardinal's voice, her tears started to flow. We will never know everything that he said to her but I do know that he promised to pray for her at the Mass the next day. He wouldn't mention her name, but she would know that it was her specifically that he was praying for.

My Mother was raised as a Lutheran. As a matter of fact, her grandfather was a Pastor. She converted to Catholicism to marry my Dad. Growing up, we were raised to pray the rosary as a family, attend Mass weekly and say grace at every meal. My Dad used to do Eucharistic Adoration on the first Fridays of the months, so we were all raised in the faith. After my Dad passed away I went to Mass with her on occasion. I had Tom at the time so sometimes we had other commitments so we couldn't go with her but the times I did go it seems that she was always in tears by the end. If I was there I would sit there and hold her hand for as long as she needed, but it always just killed me to think of all the people, and priests, that might be just passing her by when I wasn't there. When she got too ill to go, she watched the Mass, from St. Patrick's Cathedral, daily on the t.v. She had a devotion to Mary too and used a one-decade crystal rosary that I had given her to say her daily prayers on. That little rosary would go on to spur me to a rejuvenation of my own faith after she was gone, as I have written about in another post.

After the telephone call, I wrote a thank you note to Cardinal O'Connor but I also mentioned to him my concerns about her spiritual support, or rather lack of it, from our parish. I also wrote about my own struggles with dealing with her illness and just my life in general. I was gob-smacked when I received a response from him. Even more humbling, was the personal note that he added at the bottom,

"I hope to be able to visit your mother personally on the occasion of the very first opportunity I have. Please tell her I did offer Mass for her in St. Patrick's Cathedral."

Something else happened around that time though. Somehow I found the incredible strength to get through this very difficult time and I could actually feel the presence of some very large angels around me. I believe that it was the prayers and Masses that Cardinal O'Connor offered for my family and I that carried us through those dark months. I could literally feel them beside me and behind me, every day and all day for months. Their presence was so strong, I felt like other people should be able to see them with me, towering over my petite frame.

I know for a fact that my Mother had angels surrounding her as well. She spoke about them being in her room and protecting her from the other fallen ones that were there too.

Prayer is a very powerful aid, very powerful indeed. I even know the exact day that they left me. At the time I lived literally around the corner from town and had walked up to the pharmacy. When I was in there I met a man, Mr. DePonte, who I've known since I was a little girl. Mr. DePonte had an amazing baritone voice and sang with our church choir. He sang solo at my Mom's funeral Mass. When I met him in the pharmacy he looked a little down-trodden but I went over to him and thanked him for his amazing performance and complimented him on his voice. It was like the sun shone again when he heard my words. He left the pharmacy with a smile on his face. I distinctly remember when I was walking home I felt suddenly elated. I felt like the angels were patting me on the back and saying you did good! You will be fine! Our work is done here. In an instant, I didn't feel them anymore, but they had gotten me through my Mom's birthday, which was in mid-October.

It was truly a blessing to have Cardinal O'Connor in my life over those few months. One person's prayers and support can make such a huge difference in a person's life. I thank God that the spirit moved my brother to say something to him when he had the opportunity. I thank God that the Cardinal was not only a man of word but one of action as well. He gave me the incredible strength to go on and my Mother the peace that she needed in order to let go of us and to move on.

Over the months I wrote a few more times to him to keep him current on the situation. He responded every time I wrote to him, though it took a few weeks.

The Cardinal added a note to our last correspondence that said,

"I am so grateful for having met her, if only by phone."

I just wanted you all to know that you are never alone. Your Guardian Angel is ALWAYS with you. Jesus, is ALWAYS with you. Prayers do work. Pray for someone today that they may feel your love. After all, prayer is the greatest gift of love.

Peace to you all.

Mare

Acedia and Covid, Heaven Help Us

2020-07-30T11:45:00.004-07:00

"Jesus said to his disciples:
“Hear the parable of the sower.
The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom
without understanding it,
and the Evil One comes and steals away
what was sown in his heart.
The seed sown on rocky ground
is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy.
But he has no root and lasts only for a time.
When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
he immediately falls away.
The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word,
but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word
and it bears no fruit.
But the seed sown on rich soil
is the one who hears the word and understands it,
who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
~ Matthew 13: 18-23

Whew, what a timely Gospel message that is. The first part of this year has indeed been trying times for everyone, all over the world. It has tested resolve, finances, health and in a very real way faith. It's extremely difficult to keep the faith when your job goes up in smoke, your rent or mortgage is falling behind and on top of that you, or your loved ones, get sick. They are all earth-shattering events that rock one's world without the added dark cloud called COVID-19. Difficult times are normally when people turn to God but sadly, I saw more of the opposite happening this year. About a month into the quarantine I started to see many people struggling with their inability to pray due to the closures of their parishes.

Some truly rose to the occasion. Some of the priests that I follow on twitter and Facebook, took the quarantine as a prime opportunity to reach out to their parishioners via social media. PTL! Personally, I found not only daily Masses being said, from surrounding parishes of mine, but also homilies, celebrations of feast days and Easter. I even found a gorgeous prayer center in St. Maximillian Kolbe parish in Poland that has a live stream for perpetual adoration. Due to my various illnesses over the last dozen years, I had already been using resources such as The Sunday Mass to enrich my prayer life, since I could not attend services in person. My own parish has only resumed limited seating for Masses and the perpetual adoration chapel is still closed. I'm still using the resources that I found beneficial to my spiritual life over the years as doctor's orders dictate I continue to avoid gatherings.

It truly pained me, though, to see how many people were at a loss and suffering from acedia as the quarantine lengthened. Your faith and ability to pray should be as strong as oak regardless if you are sitting in a pew or on your couch. If your prayer life is based on your surroundings, you seriously have to work on it because God is everywhere. He can hear you just as well from your house, than he can when you are sitting in his house.

Acedia definition: Spiritual or mental sloth; apathy. Acedia is normal given the circumstances, but it is something that we should all fight. Even many of the saints had dark periods in their lives and have written about them. Just look at Mother Teresa in what she accomplished and she was often plagued by periods of darkness. Acedia is not of God, though. It's Satan trying to divert your attention away from God. That's why we should all fight it

There is so much discord going on in our country and in our world that this is not the most opportune time to become slothful in your prayer life. If you are a follower of Christ, and consider yourself a disciple of his, YOU are his hands, his heart, his mouth, his voice in this world. There is a specific reason why you are alive at this time in the history of the world and have the gifts that God has given you. Your faith must be steadfast and rock solid and that is only accomplished by living with and in Christ and in dialogues with him daily and often.

Christ didn't go quietly into the night when faced with his adversaries so why are we allowing others to dictate what we can sell and to whom; who gets to live and who doesn't; when we can and cannot worship and what topics are allowed; and what we can say on social media? Wake up.

We should ALL be putting on our battle gear and keeping God the Father, the son Jesus, the Holy Spirit, St. Michael, St. Benedict, our Guardian Angels and the Blessed Mother front and center in our prayer lives. That is the ONLY way that we will be prepared for the evil forces that are threatening to wipe out all decency and moral standards from the planet. Tighten up your boot straps and stop being luke warm or stagnant in your faith. Christ was brutally tortured and was crucified for our sins. What are you doing to get his message across to the non-believers? Whose life are you changing by sharing and living the Gospels? Whose souls are you praying for that they may have praise on their lips rather than hate? Whose soul are you saving by saying the Chaplet of Divine mercy for them at their time of death, that they may gasp Jesus save me, with their last breath?

Prayer is the most powerful tool we have to strengthen our faith and convert hearts and there are hundreds of thousands of lost souls walking the planet that need it. Say NO to acedia!! Say NO to Satan and his hoard that are out to unsettle you. Pick up your prayer books, your rosaries, your Bibles and be the representative of Jesus that you are supposed to be. It is when you feel the least like praying, that you should do exactly that and pray.

Jesus is relying on YOU to be his voice. Do your job and be the wheat instead of the weed. God bless us all and give us strength to fight his battles.

God be with us,

Mare

The Quest

2020-03-15T06:01:00.000-07:00

Define irony... irony is when people are afraid to go to places like church, or order from a local Chinese restaurant, for fear of getting COVID-19 yet they stand on line for HOURS with, perhaps, thousands of others trying to get toilet paper and bottled water. Alrighty then...

NY Post article from March 14, 2020

I get it. People are scared to death of this virus and want to be prepared for it lest it comes knocking on their door. Or maybe they are terrified of being on lockdown for two weeks without going anywhere (though the women in the pic looks like she won't have to leave her house for a year or so, at least to get t.p.).

This is how Tom and I roll and it never, ever, fails. Our groceries and personal hygiene things, like t.p., run low and a natural disaster hits so we can't get our staples of bread, milk, eggs, because they are sold out. It happens again and again and we rarely have a month supply of anything in the house. Of course, it happened again just last week when the shut downs started to occur. So, on Wednesday I put in an order for Shoprite from home, including our staples and t.p. We got the delivery the next day and, of course, no t.p., they are sold out. I needed office supplies so I said to myself, self, order t.p. from Staples. Order came on Friday, no t.p. It's on back order. So we currently have 1.5 rolls of t.p. in the house with our back ordered package arriving (fingers crossed) this Wednesday. When it arrives I'm going to feel like Indiana Jones did when he found the Ark of the Covenant. I'm going to be elated, and awed and I bet a tear of emotion will slide down my cheek too in sheer gratitude to Staples for delivering on their promise to deliver the goods. My quest will be fulfilled, praise the Lord!

While the world is literally crashing around me I am unbelievably calm though. Illness can strike at any time and I can tell you that from experience. Anything can take you down and in the words of Bon Jovi, "I ain't gonna live forever." Many of my friends and family members have devastating chronic illnesses that keep them home bound for weeks on end, myself included. The one thing we all share, though our illnesses differ, is our strong faith in God. As the collective "they" say, if God brings it to you, He will bring you through too.

As my quest for toilet paper continues it is my hope that this virus brings people back to God. Maybe while people are on lockdown they can pray together or read the Bible as a family. Talk to God and each other. Truthfully? You should be contemplating your relationship with God all the time, as you never know when your time is up. It is times like this when God starts to hear from people that he hasn't heard from in years. Make conversations with Him a part of your daily life so that when the world starts spinning again you will be in good company with Him and hopefully also by then He will be an integral part of your life.

I'm always reminded of the line in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, "my soul is ready Dr. Jones. Is yours?" I want to be able to say yes at all times. I want everyone to be able to say it as well, so I will pray for conversion of hearts as well as for all those that get sick or die from COVID-19. Let us all turn to God for direction, healing, peace and grace during this trying time in our history.

Peace Within

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you
May you be confident knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

- St. Therèse of Lisieux and St. Theresa of Avila

Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
God bless us all.

Mare

P.S. We DO have paper towels in the house so no worries... all is not lost.

Update! Our t.p. arrived yesterday, the 18th. Thank you Staples!

In Other Words.... Trust IN the Lord

2020-03-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

Readings from today, March 12, 2020:

First Reading 1 Jer 17:5-10

Thus says the LORD:
Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings,
who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a barren bush in the desert
that enjoys no change of season,
But stands in a lava waste,
a salt and empty earth.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose hope is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
It fears not the heat when it comes,
its leaves stay green;
In the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still bears fruit.
More tortuous than all else is the human heart,
beyond remedy; who can understand it?
I, the LORD, alone probe the mind
and test the heart,
To reward everyone according to his ways,
according to the merit of his deeds.

Responsorial Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6

R.   (40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R.   Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R.   Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so, the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R.   Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, with all you soul and with all your mind and you will get through EVERYTHING. Have a wonderful day.

Peace,
Mare

Trains, Beeps, and God

2020-03-08T11:53:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning to the sound of incessant beeping and it wasn’t my alarm. It’s not very welcome on a Saturday morning at 7 A.M. either. It was the kind of beeping noise that is made when a large vehicle is backing up. I’m sure you know the sound. It alerts people to the fact that something big is coming their way and to watch out for it, lest it make you a road pizza.

Shortly after that they started with the horn honking, in one or two short beeps. It was then that I realized that a crew was working on the train tracks just about 130 yards away from my house. They do that beeping. It’s some kind of signal back and forth between the crew driving the vehicles, but even living near the train tracks for 60+ years I haven’t a clue what it signifies. I just know it’s a form of communication for them.

Having lived near them all of my years, though, I’ve become used to their schedules, and the sound of the wheel trucks on the tracks and the light of the front beam flashing into my living room on occasion. The silence is ominous when I don’t hear them, as that usually signifies a problem, which is rare, but nonetheless does occur. The trains are ever present in my life, even if I tune them out and they are reduced to background noise in my day-to-day living.

Today, though, they reminded me of my relationship with God. He too is ever present in my day-to-day but do I pay attention to the communications and prompts in my day that he wants me to act on? Am I aware of his presence or do I tune him out, as I do the train sounds, and concentrate only on myself rather than those around me? If I’m being honest with myself I have to say that some times no, I am not aware of him and I do tune myself out to those around me and do you know what? I’m doing a tremendous disservice to myself and to those that he is expecting me to help in one way or another. I don’t have to wonder if I’m the only one that does that either; all I have to do is pick up a newspaper or watch the news to see that there are many people not listening to God. That makes me sad but I have to remember that the news doesn’t report on all the good things that happen either. If you’re lucky, you get 40 minutes of bad news, 17 minutes of commercials and 3 of a feel good story. (I’m getting off track here, get it? Off track….? Sorry That’s a groaner.)

What a beautiful world it could be if we all listened more to God and loved and cared for the citizens of planet earth. I think we all could benefit from listening more to God and doing more for those around us that we encounter. As that saying goes, I should BE the change that I want to see in the world. I would like to add that I would like to BE the person that God expects me to be as well and to listen for, and be aware, of his prompts and gentle nuances to help people around me or far away. That’s my goal this Lenten season, to listen and watch for his prompts, be them a small beep or a loud horn, that gets my attention. I hope you make it yours as well.

Peace and Love,

Mare