Oxygen Mask of Spirituality

September 9, 2022/2 Comments/in Faith, Family Life, Inspirational/by Maria Riley

Oxygen Mask of Spirituality

If you’ve ever flown on an airplane with a child, you know that the flight attendants instruct that, in case of an emergency, you should secure your own oxygen mask before assisting your child. The reason is that you’re no good to your kids if you’re dead.

I’ve heard many people reference this example with respect to self-care. We need to make sure we are healthy, well rested, and cared for so that when we turn to help the other people in our lives, we have more to give them. The same concept applies to our spiritual lives.

Sharing the Gospel is the mission of every Christian. As parents, we are especially tasked to tell God’s story of salvation to our children. This is no small task, and the truth is, if we do not actively seek out our own flow of oxygen to grow in our own faith and relationship with God, we won’t be equipped to help anyone else, even our own kids.

Attending Sunday Mass is obviously the first step, but I believe that is not enough. We also need daily intentional spiritual development time. The trouble is, with our hectic lives and packed schedules, how can we make purposeful time for God?

The answer lies in using the tools and resources other faithful Catholics have created.

Explore what options your local parish has for study and fellowship. There may be a prayer ministry, a women’s group, or a Bible study. Instead of listening to music in the car, turn on a Catholic podcast (if you haven’t listened to it yet, The Bible in a Year podcast will change your life). There are Catholic Bible apps so you can read scripture on the go, and many apps that also have prayers, reflections, and daily readings, like the Hallow and Amen apps.

You can also sign up to get a daily inspirational email from Catholic organizations like Word on Fire or CatholicMom.com. Swap out your secular books with Catholic fiction, and trade Netflix for Formed, which is an online streaming service with shows, reflections, and even content for kids offered for free by the Augustine Institute.

Finally, one of the best and most fulfilling ways to grow closer to Jesus is through Christ-centered friendships. Jesus came to earth as a human so he could talk with and eat with us. When he commissioned his followers, he sent them out two by two (cf. Mark 6:7 & Luke 10:1). We aren’t meant to go it alone! The support and love of a Christ-loving friend can easily nurture and empower you to proclaim the message God has given you to share.

With so many options in this modern, tech-filled world, you will easily find daily ways to grow in your understanding and relationship with God, thereby further equipping you for your mission.

Now go and put on your own oxygen mask of spirituality, because you’re no good to anyone if you’re spiritually dead.

Never Let a Dream Grow Cold

August 19, 2022/0 Comments/in Catholic Theme, Faith, Inspirational/by Kimberly Novak

“Place your hope in the Lord: be strong and courageous
in your heart,and place your hope in the Lord.”
Psalm 27:14 (New Catholic Bible)

Dreams come in all sizes, shapes, and forms like brilliant clouds in the sky. Sleep dreams are out of our control, like a movie that plays out as we rest. Life dreams or goals are the ones we think we can control. A common thread is waiting.

Dreaming while we sleep requires little effort. All we need to do is close our eyes (or shades as some refer to them), which God has provided for our rejuvenation. The waiting part of a sleep dream is in the moments before we drift off to our slumber. The subject of the dreams is determined only by God and the unconscious thoughts which come alive as we dream. Often, a dream that occurs at night is only a blurred image that we can’t put our finger on. The events of the dream may be remembered in days to come, but most often they fade into a vast array of past dreams.

As we sleep, dreams play out and affect us with happy, sad, or even scared emotional responses depending on the dream. It is often helpful to keep a dream journal handy when you wake up and remember the dream vividly. Recording the dream is beneficial in determining a dream pattern and perhaps a gift or insight from the Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us that God can speak to us through our dreams. Therefore, though sleep dreams may seem trivial sometimes, it may be fruitful not to let them grow cold.

We read about many sleep dreams in the bible. The three wise men who traveled to pay homage to Jesus received such a dream. We learn that “having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way” (Matthew 2:12).

Life dreams or goals are significantly more complicated than those mentioned above because they encompass our expectations and a high level of emotional attachment. Dreams of this nature are often afflicted with the task of waiting. We have heard terms like dashed dreams or a dream come true, two different extremes often requiring one to wait patiently.

We wait because we need or want something to happen, and when we are waiting for a dream or goal to come alive, this can bring frustration, sadness, and doubt. One way to counterbalance this is to invite God into the pause.

Taking life dreams into prayerful conversation with our Lord not only makes the wait manageable, but it also confirms that the plan aligns with glorifying God. I can’t count how many times my ambitions were suddenly halted. In each case, my emotional response was not pleasant until I realized that what I wanted was not of God but entirely my own vision.

I like to think of dreams for my life in this way, that I am waiting patiently for the Lord without expectations. I surrender my thoughts, words, and plans to the vision of my God. Prayer becomes the catalyst for making dreams come true. Growing in intimacy with God as we discuss the details of such dreams is a beautiful experience. Journaling each step, concern, and joyful moment helps to keep me aligned with God’s vision.

God wants us to succeed and be happy, and so He places the seeds for dreams in our hearts. Eventually, insights will become easier to recognize, and hopes and dreams will come alive. Never, ever let a dream grow cold. God is working in you, for you and His Glory!

Beautiful Writing Will Save the World

August 18, 2022/2 Comments/in Catholic Theme, Catholic Writing and Publishing, Inspirational, Sacred Art and Architecture/by Anjanette Barr

While spending time with my friend Megan Chalfant, a wonderful Catholic artist, a few years ago, I was introduced to the concept of art (including writing) as prayer. I understood that we as creators should pray over our work, dedicating it to God. But I hadn’t thought about how the act of doing the work God has called us to do is a kind of “Yes.” It’s a living out of our faith that is a form of prayer on its own. This realization sparked an elevation of my creative endeavors.

We chatted that day about many other powerful connections between faith and art/creation. It got me thinking about how we translate the concepts of God’s love and other eternal things into a language we can understand by creating. Since God made each of us unique, it makes sense that our expression of the truths we observe will take different forms than those around us. A sculptor, an architect, a community organizer, a musician, and a novelist will find vastly different ways to “say” the same thing.

Speaking God’s love into the world sounds a lot like evangelism, doesn’t it?

That day, Megan also gifted me a wonderful book produced by Likable Art called Created (In the Beginning God): Bridging the Gap Between Your Art and Your Creator. It opens with an admonition from Bishop Robert Barron to “Lead with Beauty.”

There is something unthreatening about the beautiful, which is what makes it so powerful as a pathway to God: first the beautiful, then the good, and finally the true.

Pope Francis focused on telling the story of beauty as a means of evangelism and as a balm for our souls during his message for World Communications Day in 2020. He emphasized that sacred scripture is the story of stories. It relates how God became story through his incarnation and how by becoming man, he made every human story a divine story. We can follow our Storyteller’s example as Catholic writers by sharing beautiful, good news.

Amid the cacophony of voices and messages that surround us, we need a human story that can speak of ourselves and of the beauty all around us. A narrative that can regard our world and its happenings with a tender gaze. A narrative that can tell us that we are part of a living and interconnected tapestry. A narrative that can reveal the interweaving of the threads which connect us to one another.

I love the idea of leading with beauty and regarding our world with a tender gaze. Because after all, as Dostoyevsky says in his novel The Idiot, “beauty will save the world.”

Beauty is powerful. But it is not always lovely at first glance. Dostoyevsky writes about beauty as “mysterious and also terrible.” So while beauty often smooths our path to God, we aren’t called only to create easy-to-digest art or careful art that does not offend. Beauty can be found in suffering.

Authentic beauty… unlocks the yearning of the human heart, the profound desire to know, to love, to go towards the Other, to reach for the Beyond. If we acknowledge that beauty touches us intimately, that it wounds us, that it opens our eyes, then we rediscover the joy of seeing, of being able to grasp the profound meaning of our existence. (From Pope Benedict XVI’s 2009 Meeting with Artists)

Sometimes it’s exposure to a created work that reminds us of hard truths – our frailty, mortality, weakness — that ignites in us a longing for the eternal. Poignant art leads us back to what we would otherwise take pains to avoid – and it takes a sneaky route that we often don’t anticipate until it has already done its work in us. How many people came into relationship with God because they were drawn to the uncomfortable beauty of the crucifix? Or a hauntingly gorgeous old cathedral? Or the lives and deaths of martyrs?

As writers, we have the keys to unlocking truth through beauty for our readers. A well-written novel with compelling characters, for instance, can grow our compassionate understanding of a type of person we’d be hesitant to interact with in real life, and that “person” can teach us lessons that we’d brush off if the author wrote them plainly. And even better, carefully chosen, beautiful, illuminating words on any subject can point to the glory of the Creator who writes truth on our hearts and who declares that ours is a world worth saving.

Learning to Just Be

July 26, 2022/0 Comments/in Blogging, Catholic Writing and Publishing, Encouragement for Writers, Family Life, Inspirational/by Sarah Anne Carter

Our lives are often rushed. This summer’s calendar has been packed fuller than any before—trying to get household things done while running children here, there, and everywhere has me feeling rushed and a bit frantic some days. (Leave it to high gas prices to teach me a lesson about slowing down.)

Our daughter has dance class 30 minutes away and, for the past few weeks, to save on gas, we’ve been taking turns staying down near her class instead of driving back home and back again. At least 12 hours of driving has been saved, but that meant we had to find something to do for the two and a half hours while she was in class. My husband and I took turns “experiencing” the nights away from home.

On my first trip, I visited the downtown library that I had never been to yet. It had an underground free parking garage where I could eat my dinner in my car. I took my laptop into the library, but I spent the first 10 minutes wandering around the three floors to see the different areas the library had to offer. There were so many tables near the windows that faced either downtown or a small park. I found one and wrote for almost an hour. I still had time to kill, so then I read the local paper. While I hadn’t brought my water into the library, I noticed food and drinks were not taboo there.

My husband found a metro park where he could sit and eat his dinner and read while watching the fountains and the people. He encountered families, runners, hip hop dancers, and other people just taking breaks from work. During this time, he started reading a book I had already started and ending up finishing it before me because he had so much reading time. It’s the first time that’s ever happened since I’m the faster reader!

One night, I ate at the metro park, but since it was hot, I went into the local coffee shop to spend some time writing. For an hour, I got to write while listening to some great music from the ‘90s. The barista even offered me water to go as I was leaving and was impressed that I was an author. I definitely will go back there.

Another night, I went to Panera right down the street and wrote and wrote and wrote. Then, one night, I was tired and didn’t feel like pulling out the laptop, so I went to a bookstore and browsed.

My husband spent one night reading some, but also listening to the live music they had downtown. Turns out there’s a free concert every Thursday night in the summer.

Through all the nights I spent downtown, I found myself forced to slow down, to find a place and just stay there for a bit. I spent most of my nights away writing. I focused on just doing or enjoying whatever was in front of me. A quiet dinner outside let me focus on the tasty BBQ beef sandwich. A library let me focus on the plot of my novel. You should see how focused I am at a bookstore.

Those nights helped remind me to be where I am, and I started to apply it more at home. I often move from task to task, or even multitask a lot. But I don’t have to rush from one thing to another. I can enjoy making dinner. I can spend time looking at my daylilies. I can sit and listen to a child’s joke. I can just be.

Let Jesus In

July 8, 2022/0 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, Inspirational/by Maria Riley

Discernment can be a difficult task, and as Catholic writers, this includes our discernment for our writing. I have found that the only way to find clear directions, regardless if we write fiction or nonfiction, is to invite Jesus to be our guide.

I long to do the will of God, but at times I am caught by paralyzing fears of inadequacy and ineptitude. I do not have a formal Catholic education, and in my weak moments I start to believe that I do not have anything to offer or contribute to the world of Catholic writing. Even though that I have family members, friends, and even my priest cheering me on, I fall prey to these vicious inferiority thoughts.

I read Saint Thérèse of Lisieux’s Autobiography, The Story of a Soul. for a project I’m working on. I highly recommend it! She wrote it as a response to a request from her superior in the convent, and it reads like a letter written to a friend. I felt like Thérèse wrote it directly to me.

Thérèse’s life on earth outwardly seemed unremarkable (she became a Carmelite nun at age 15 and died at age 24); but thanks to The Story of a Soul, people like me have been learning about her profound yet simple way to heaven for more than 100 years. It is not written eloquently, but its message has changed countless lives. Because of this journal-style book, she has been named one of only four female Doctors of the Church.

Many phrases and ideas struck me, but none more so than her open confession to not being educated by traditional means. She tells us that she struggled with understanding deeply theological books, but that Jesus gave her the knowledge and understanding directly. She says, “Jesus has no need of books or doctors of the Church to guide souls. He, the Doctor of doctors, can teach without words.” (Martin, Thérèse. The Story of a Soul. Translated by John Beevers. Image Books, 1989).

I reread those words many times to let them fully sink in. The concept of being taught by Jesus directly makes so much sense, even though I never realized it before. I now know, if I will let Him, Jesus will teach me too. I do not need extra letters after my name to have something valuable to contribute to the world, because my words are not my own when Jesus is my guide. As long as I am inviting Jesus in, His will can and will be done through me.

Tending The Garden of Your Heart

May 20, 2022/0 Comments/in Blogging, Catholic Writing and Publishing, Faith, Family Life, Holidays, Inspirational/by Kimberly Novak

Kimberly Novak shares heartfelt lessons she learned through the blooming of a Christmas Cactus.

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched; they must be felt within the heart.” Helen Keller

Many instances in our lives make a good argument for Helen Keller’s quote. Take, for example, a baby’s first smile and the soft touch of their little hand in yours. If we go deeper into those connections, we will find that the most intimate emotions are within the heart. In an unexpected example, I considered the many ways we can tend to the garden of our heart and produce a thriving relationship with God.

My mom texted me recently, celebrating that her Christmas Cactus had bloomed. After more than a year with no emerging flowers. Taking notice that the plant was not thriving in its environment, Mom moved it to a different room. “It is happy,” she shared. I wondered why a Christmas plant would be blooming now in May. The weather is warmer though not quite yet spring-like. Also, this is a “Christmas Plant,” and we are in Easter Season. Intrigued, I powered up the laptop and searched all there was to know about the Christmas Cactus.

There’s no shortage of information about this unique plant; for example, it is known for endurance and loyalty. Also, I read a Christmas Cactus Legend which goes deeper into what the plant represents. After all of this research, I still couldn’t find out why an adjustment in its environment made the plant happy.

The event and the beautiful change the cactus experienced gave me pause to look at how this relates to a nurturing relationship with God. Plants need specific growing environments, soil consistencies, and various levels of sunlight to achieve their full potential. As children of God, we can relate. There are multiple ways to measure the growing conditions of our spiritual life, all leading to happiness of the heart.

Temperature plays a significant role in our walk with God. When we are consistent in prayer and our spiritual practices, our longing for God runs hot! Spirituality thrives in this environment. The rising passion for God then needs to be watered frequently. It is important not to get to a point where we are dry or overwatered in prayer life. One can never pray too much; however, it is possible to pray without a feeling of genuine love for God in our hearts. Praying with sincerity from the heart will safeguard your level of spiritual hydration.

Life throws a lot our way, and there will come a day when you don’t feel like spending time with God. Much like a plant with halted growth, this is considered dormancy. A great way to combat this is through spiritual stillness. Prayer, without conscious words, yet in the presence of God. Eucharistic adoration is a beautiful place for worship of this nature and is an excellent preparatory phase for the next step on this journey, making conditions ripe for growth.

Recognizing your prayerful habits and patterns will keep your prayer life lush and abundant. Also, journaling is a great way to chart changes and emotions during your prayerful encounters. Find a way to highlight or mark days of consolation and go back to them when something has you down. These moments will act as nourishment for your spirit.

Now, it is time for the light to shine! With plants, indirect or direct sunlight plays a prominent role in the plant’s growth, texture, and lifespan. It is not much different in our relationship with God when considering God’s light and love as our source. Living in a way that glorifies our Lord allows His light to shine outwardly from us and onto others. It is in God’s light and love where the happiness in our hearts takes hold. Loving God and feeding on His love is a true expression of Helen Keller’s quote. When we nurture our spirituality before, during, and after blooming, it results in feeling the best and most beautiful things God is offering.

Spring is here, and soon, all will be shopping for the prettiest flowers, blooming plants, and preparing the soil for planting. I might suggest that in this time, we also consider where we can allow for spiritual growth and how God is calling us to plant the seeds He has given us to share.

The Writing Charism, and Finding Your Writing Niche

May 19, 2022/0 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, Inspirational/by Anjanette Barr

I’ve been a writer for forever, but I’ve only been Catholic since 2018. Writing in the Protestant world for decades was a blessing, and I had no trouble finding community and support. Still, a bit of grieving needed to happen when I recognized that becoming Catholic meant that my presence in some areas of my previous social sphere would now be awkward.

As an extrovert, I knew I needed to be assertive and find new friends while continuing to cherish my Protestant Christian friendships, and the first two places I searched were among mothers and writers. Obviously, I found the Catholic Writers Guild, praise God. And I also found a group of bookish moms at my parish!

My writing and mothering worlds converged in a fateful and providential way when I mentioned a podcast episode to my mom’s group. The podcast recommended some books I thought we could read together and introduced me to a Catholic word I was unfamiliar with – charism.

Because I come from a Protestant tradition that loves to study Scripture, I knew that charis was Greek for grace (or The Graces in classical mythology). And of course, I could see that it was the root of words like charisma and charismatic, but I had yet to encounter the concept of charism as Catholics use it.

The podcast episode (Fountains of Carrots Episode 86: Living Out Your Creative Dreams to Love Your Family, with Jen Fulwiler) talked about finding the special way God has called and gifted you to make a difference in the world—your charism. The way He created you to be a more whole, fulfilled person and family/community member. They also recommended a workshop from The Catherine of Siena Institute.

I had no interest in taking the workshop and really just wanted to read one of Jen Fulwiler’s books with the group. Still, one of my friends took the initiative and organized a group to go through the Called and Gifted Workshop, and I felt obligated to join since I was the person who brought it up in the first place. Since I’d taken oodles of personality profiles and spiritual gift assessments, I resisted. I felt like I knew myself pretty well, and I thought this would be a boring waste of time.

Something is compelling about looking at not just the way God has molded your personality or your talents but how He has specially equipped you to do good in the world. It goes beyond “what am I good at?” and asks, “what am I here for?”

This distinction is huge. And it proved to be life-changing for me.

I was not surprised to find that writing was at the very top of my list of charisms when I took the inventory. I already knew I was meant to be a writer. What I found the most useful in the workshop experience was learning about my other complementary charisms, and second, the six-month discernment process that the workshop recommends.

In addition to writing, I scored high in Teaching, Knowledge, and Helps, among others. I came to understand how valuable it is for me to know these things about myself when considering what to write. Technically, I can write decently regardless of subject or format, but that does not mean that all of my writing will be equally impactful.

To test this, I spent six months trying new things. I volunteered on the editorial board for our diocesan newspaper. I wrote (bad) poetry. I published a book of short stories. And I tried my hand at developmental editing, essays, and long-form fiction.

I discovered that while God can use me however He wants to, left on my own, I often try to swim against the stream and use my energy in ways that do not offer a great return on the investment. I can muddle through in some areas of writing, but I really shine in others. There’s a place that is an intersection of all of my charisms that is both personally fulfilling and evangelistically impactful.

Consider how a Writing charism paired with an Encouragement charism looks completely different than Writing and Leadership. Or Music. Or Administration. Or Prophecy.

I’m now working in publishing at a literary agency. I would never have even known to look in that direction for a job that utilizes my charisms if I had not gone through this discernment process, and every day it feels like a more and more perfect fit.

Whether you take an inventory like Called and Gifted, or maybe walk through the Clifton Strengths Assessment with Guild member Lisa Mladinich at Wonderfully Made, take some time to think and pray about the other charisms God has given you and how they impact your writing. Which kinds of writing will allow the graces God has bestowed on to you reach their perfect audience? Maybe it will be a new way to help you think about your niche.

Just a Humble Writer

May 13, 2022/1 Comment/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, Inspirational/by Maria Riley

I have often wondered what Mary felt and thought as the Angel Gabriel proclaimed that she was to bear the Son of God (cf. Luke 1:26-38). In her humility, she gave God her yes, and because of her fiat we have Christianity. Mary became the mother of our Lord, and because of her monumental role in the redemption of the world, she is the best example of humility in our faith. How can she be so important and well known, and yet humble?

In our modern culture, humility is perceived as weakness. Some would even say submissive is a synonym of humility. For most people, to be humble means to put ourselves down and feel unworthy. Our faith, however, gives us a very different understanding of humility. Simply put, humility is truly living in God’s will and not your own.

We have all known people who would benefit from a healthy dose of traditional humility. I’m talking about those who are completely full of themselves and unable to see the world in any way except their own. In those cases, humility might require being brought down a level or two.

But there are those of us, myself included, who need a healthy dose of humility to bring us up to the level that God wants for us. He doesn’t want us all sitting around feeling inept and worthless. True humility is knowing our place: not as a god in our own world, not as a doormat watching life pass by, but as an active participant doing what God wills for us.

For many years I refused to write because I did not feel worthy or equipped. When I thought about being a Catholic writer, I thought that there was no point of even trying because I do not have a formal Catholic education. I thought I was being modest and properly humble, knowing that I could not contribute to the Catholic writing world.

Thankfully, God didn’t give up on me (He never does). I recently dipped my toe in the water and found that while there are many Catholic topics I am not qualified to write about, there are plenty that I am! I have my own unique faith, conversion, and suffering experiences. I have stories that I know God wants me to tell. I have passion and a love of our Catholic faith, and if my writing brings even a single person closer to Christ, then I am doing what I am called to do.

Most importantly, I have learned that humility is not beating myself up or believing that I am unworthy of anything. It is setting aside my own desires and being fully present to give my own fiat to God for whatever He asks of me.

I pray for all aspiring Catholic writers: may you be properly humbled too. We need more good writers. Let it be you!

Confessions of a Journal Writer

May 12, 2022/1 Comment/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, Evangelization, Faith, Inspirational, Prayer, Spiritual Life, The Writing Life/by Allison Gingras

Journal writing entered my life when I received a pastel tie-dye-covered diary for my ninth birthday. The diary came with two dainty little keys, which I guarded with my life, though a sharp pair of shears could have gained anyone entry. That summer, I discovered my aptitude and affection for reflective writing. My first musings revolved around friendships, the unfair punishment imposed by my parents (however, to be fair, each was totally deserved), and I even took a whirl at penning poetry.

I still journal over 40 years later, albeit there is much less personal angst and much more spiritual contemplation. The joy of pen to paper, sorting through the full range of human emotion, connecting random thoughts, and wrestling with questions of theology—continue to bring great satisfaction and moments of remarkable clarity. While some people think out loud, I have learned that I think with a pen. My ideas come to a fuller understanding and bloom to maturity as I scrawl them out.

Muddled ideologies and bumpy spiritual awakenings are smoothed out as they are scratched out in red, purple, or green bold point across the smooth glistening writing surface. As my thoughts come fast and furious, my pen frantically toils to keep up, and there is no longer a need for a key to keep prying eyes from discovering my deepest thoughts. For it would require an expert in hieroglyphics as the words fly across the page, seemingly taking on a language of their own—my grandmother would call what remains chicken scratch.

Yet, I know I can return to these glorious pages and recall every word, every emotion. I decided long ago that the words I can no longer decipher or remember are simply not important or meant for anyone other than me. It is akin to those fleeting thoughts which float in and out of our consciousness, dismissed as inconsequential. The messages God wishes me to relay, I can attest, He repeats and reiterates through various situations and from myriad voices. In the end, I’m confident that what I publish for others to read not only comes from Him but always glorifies Him.

As time progresses, the purpose of my journals has evolved, less of capturing the memories of childhood and more of retaining the highlights of my journey of faith reversion. How the Catholic faith can be lived fully in everyday, ordinary moments of life, which I shared through my non-fiction writing. Between the pages of my collection of journals, one finds contemplation on the Scripture, catechesis on the tenets of the faith, mixed with my own struggle to believe, not lose faith, and cast-off doubts.

Spurred on to share because I’ve recognized, after years of conversations with others, that I am not the only person walking in the same wobbly steps, stumbling on these same rocks.

The journey is humbling, overwhelming, exciting at times, and heartbreaking at others. Yet, I know this is my call: to scribe the spiritual, spending endless hours in prayer, reading the scriptures, and participating in the sacraments. All to stay as close to Him as I can, and I’ll joyfully persist because it is on these pages I feel the closest to my God.

Our Lady Showered the People with Abundance

May 3, 2022/1 Comment/in Blogging, Inspirational/by Larry Peterson

“I have heard their prayers. Assure them that as of this day, their suffering has come to an end.”

There is a town located in Italy called Cursi. It is in the Apulia region of southeast Italy, and if you look at the map of the country, it is located on the heel of the boot. It is about as far southeast one can go before coming to the Adriatic Sea. In the seventeenth century, the Blessed Virgin came to this town and, reaching out with love and tenderness, saved all the people.

It had been three years since a drop of rain had fallen in the region. It was now 1641, and the summer heat was turned up full. The drought had led to famine, and the famine led to a lack of work. Sickness had erupted and began to spread among the people. Things had become genuinely desperate, and even water to drink was getting scarce. The people had been praying every day to the Blessed Mother for help, but no relief appeared.

In April of 1641, (the actual date is unknown) the son of a cattle farmer, Biagio Natali, was out herding some stray cattle back to the farm. Near the pasture was a chapel that had been dedicated to Our Lady. Next to the chapel, near the edge of the road, was a barn. Inside the barn, on one of the walls, was a fresco someone had painted (artist unknown) of the Madonna and Child.

As Biagio passed by the barn, he noticed a strange light coming from inside. He stopped and looked, and the light seemed to get brighter and brighter. Suddenly, the figure of the Mother and Child came from inside the light. Biagio fell to his knees and a beautiful voice said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the Queen of Heaven. Return to your village and try to placate your neighbors. I have heard their prayers. Assure them that as of this day, their suffering has come to an end. As a sign of my protection, you will have an abundant harvest.”

Realizing that the Madonna and Child were no longer there, Biagio got up and ran to Don Giovanni Domenico Coccioli, the parish priest. Don Giovanni was overjoyed to hear this message. He told Biagio that he had received a similar dream. The priest was so excited to hear Biagio’s story that he immediately ran out to announce the news to the people of the city. He organized them into a procession and all the townsfolk began marching while praying and singing in honor of Our Lady and Child. What an incredible faith the people had; nothing had yet to happen.

As the people processed toward the sight of the apparition, the clear, blue sky began to cloud over. The clouds grew darker, and the rains came down. The rain poured down for three days and nights with the fields soaking up every drop of the precious water. Since it was only April, the harvest that year was abundant. The famine ended, and the local granaries and cellars were filled with wheat and fruit.

The people of Cursi wanted to find a way to show their sincere gratitude to the Blessed Mother. They decided to enclose the small chapel and barn within a large church that would surround it. The fresco would be saved within the new church and hopefully become a place of pilgrimage. The church was finished in 1650 and, as hoped for, immediately became a popular place to visit. It was called the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Abundance. Biagio left his work as a farmer, donned the clothes of a hermit, and vowed to spend the rest of his life in prayer and fasting while looking after the shrine.

Some years after the new church was built, it was hit by lightning and burned down. A bigger and more beautiful church was built with a magnificent sanctuary. In the sanctuary, above the high altar, is a Greco-Byzantine fresco of the Madonna of Abundance (sometimes called the Madonna of Prosperity). In it, the Blessed Virgin holds the Divine Infant and in their hands, they are holding sprigs of olives and ears of corn.

The Shrine is not only known for the “abundance” of rain but it is also a place for nursing mothers who lack the necessary milk to nurse their babies. Those who invoke her intercession are said to often develop an abundance of milk.

The shrine in Cursi is opened daily and Mass is offered at 5:00 p.m. in the winter and at 6:00 p.m. in the summer, with the Rosary preceding Mass.