A few more precious quotes

The family that prays together, stays together.

We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.

Knowing doesn’t mean understanding. Just as Looking doesn’t mean seeing.

Never judge your parents. Wait until you become one yourself.

Every great achievement starts with the decision to try, and the confidence to act.

This is my wish for you: Comfort in difficult days. Rainbows to follow the clouds. Smiles when sadness intrudes. Faith so that you can believe. Sunsets to warm your heart. Laughter to kiss your soul. Courage to know yourself. Hugs when spirits sag. Patience to accept the truth. Beauty for your eyes to see. Confidence for when you doubt. Friendships to brighten your heart. And Love to complete your heart.

Friendship is the rainbow between two hearts sharing seven colors: feelings, love, sadness, happiness, faith,  truth, respect and secrets.

We love ourselves even when we commit a thousand mistakes. Then how can we hate and condemn others for one mistake?

The world always says ‘Find good people and leave the bad ones.’ But I always say ‘Find the good in people and ignore the bad in them’ Because no one is perfect.

Being humble means recognizing that we are not on earth to see how important we can become. But to see how much difference we can make in the life of others.

Peace of mind is a beautiful gift that only we can give to ourselves just by expecting nothing from anyone even after doing everything for them.

Many people will make you realize how wonderful the world is.....but only a few will make you realize how wonderful you are to the rest of the world !

Alone I can ‘say,’ but together we can ‘Talk.’ Alone I can ‘enjoy,’ but together we can ‘Celebrate.’ Alone I can ‘smile,’  but together we can ‘Laugh.’ That’s the beauty of human relations. We are nothing without each other.

The Guardian Angels

The belief in Guardian Angels appears in the Old Testament, although it is not specifically articulated. The belief that angels can be guides and intercessors for men appears in the books of Job and Daniel where angels seem to be assigned to certain countries. In the Gospel Jesus says of children: "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven." This is often understood to mean that children are protected by guardian angels. In Acts chapter 12 there is another allusion to the belief that a specific angel is assigned to protect each individual. After Peter had been escorted out of prison by an angel, he went to the home of 'Mary the mother of John, also called Mark'. The servant girl, Rhoda, recognized his voice and ran back to tell the group that Peter was there. However the group replied, "It must be his angel."' The fathers of the Church had differing views on the Guardian Angels. Saint Ambrose, for example, believed that saints lose their guardian angels so that they might have a greater struggle and persevere. Saints Jerome and Basil of Caesarea argued that sin drove the angels away. The first Christian theologian to outline a specific scheme for guardian angels was Honorius. He said that every soul was assigned a guardian angel the moment it was put into a body. St Thomas Aquinas agreed with Honorius and specified that it was the lowest order of angels who served as guardians. Guardian angels appear in literary works throughout the medieval and renaissance periods. Popes have always invoked the protection of their Guardian Angels. Pope Pius XI recalled in one of his audiences that he relied on his Guardian Angel’s help when confronting the likes of Hitler and Mussolini. Pope John XXIII in a private conversation with a Canadian bishop attributed the idea of calling an ecumenical council to his Guardian Angel - it was via his Angel that God gave him the inspiration to convene Vatican Council II, which started October 11, 1962.

One can also name your own Guardian Angels, as I have personally done when I called mine Stephen. Yes, Stephen has been very good to me, protecting me from danger and saving me from near accidents and who knows what else.
PRAYER: Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

St Therese of Lisieux

This year we celebrate the 100 anniversary of the Little Flower’s canonization. Therese was born in France on January 2, 1873, the pampered daughter of a mother who had wanted to be a saint and a father who had wanted to be a monk. The two had gotten married but determined they would be celibate until a priest told them that was not how God wanted a marriage to work! They must have followed his advice very well because they had nine children. The five children who lived were all daughters, and they all became nuns. The other 4 died very young or at birth. Tragedy and loss came quickly to Therese when her mother died of breast cancer when she was four and a half years old. Her sixteen-year-old sister Pauline became her second mother -- which made the second loss even worse when Pauline entered the Carmelite convent five years later. When her other sisters, Marie and Leonie, left to join religious orders (the Carmelites and Poor Clares, respectively), Therese was left alone with her last sister Celine and her father. She wanted to enter the Carmelite convent to join Pauline and Marie but how could she convince others that she could handle the rigors of Carmelite life? When the superior of the Carmelite convent refused to take Therese because she was so young, the formerly shy little girl went to the bishop. When the bishop also said no, she decided to go over his head. Her father and sister took her on a pilgrimage to Rome to try to get her mind off this crazy idea. Therese loved it. It was the one time when being little worked to her advantage! Because she was young and small she could run everywhere, touch relics and tombs without being yelled at. Finally, they went for an audience with the Pope, Leo XIII. As soon as she got near him, she begged that he let her enter the Carmelite convent. She had to be carried out by two of the guards! But the Vicar General who had seen her courage was impressed and soon Therese was admitted to the Carmelite convent that her sisters Pauline and Marie had already joined. 

Actual photo of St Therese

She knew as a Carmelite nun she would never be able to perform great deeds. Therese took every chance to sacrifice, no matter how small it would seem. She smiled at the sisters she didn't like. She ate everything she was given without complaining -- often given the worst leftovers. Upon their father’s death, now Celine also entered the convent. Four of the sisters were now together again. In this small convent, they now made up one-fifth of the population. Despite this and the fact that Therese was a permanent novice, they put her in charge of the other novices. Then in 1896, she coughed up blood. She kept working without telling anyone until she became so sick a year later everyone knew it. She died on September 30, 1897, at the age of 24 years old. After she died, Pauline put together Therese's memoirs and sent 2000 copies of ‘The Story of a Soul’ to other convents. In 1925 she was canonized. Her parents Louis and Zelie Martin were canonized in 2015.