I’m getting ready for the Holy Day this week, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Solemnity)- Thursday, Aug 15, which in itself is a very special day, but for me even more so. It happens to fall the day before my birthday which has put this Marian feast particularly close to my heart. I have come to realize that the Blessed Mother has been wrapped around many days of birth and re-birth in my life. I was taught how to say the Rosary when I was two, when my father was struggling for his life. Olivia Marianna was to be born on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dec. 12 and Jeff saw the Blessed Mother before he died. He said she came to welcome him Home. There have been many more moments she’s been a part of too.
As I look back, I can see I’ve had a special connection with our Lady since I was little. Our relationship has had its tensions and moments of distance, on my part, but she is always there for me, especially when I am afraid and flailing. She holds my hand as I pray the rosary and comforts me as she helps me grow closer to her Son and bring Him my intentions, angers, sorrows, and joys. I often wear a miraculous medal which belonged to my great-grandmother and features Mary as Our Lady of Grace which is my favorite depiction of her. And since I was a little girl, I carry my rosary in my purse and hold onto it when there us nothing else tangible to me and touch it in my joys. I give away rosaries and little books with the mysteries and how to pray the rosary when prompted by the Holy Spirit. I will stop and share them with perfect strangers…This is a special week for me and in the Church. I feel amazingly blessed, Thank you Blessed Mother.
Life is what happens between coffee and chocolate 