Holy Playing Cards

After visiting Lourdes on our honeymoon, my husband and I traveled to Nevers to see Bernadette’s incorrupt body. I have always been fascinated by the Incorruptibles and was very excited to see her. I still don’t understand why God chooses to preserve some of His saints this way, but I treasure these mysteries of the Catholic faith and am so grateful to have been able to visit dear Bernadette. St. Bernadette, pray for us! 🙏

“Am I not here, I, who am your mother? Are you not under my shadow? Am I not your health? Are you not by chance held in my mantle?” ~ Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego

Click the link in our profile to get to an excellent sermon on Our Lady of Guadalupe by one of our favorite priests to listen to!

To say our family loves Our Lady of Guadalupe would be an understatement. She’s in our cards, she’s on the box… we even have a giant print of her miraculous tilma front and center in our living room! Dearest Mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, pray for us, pray for our nation. We love you! 🙏❤️

“The family is the basis of the Lord’s plan; and all forces of evil are focusing all their evil on destroying the family […] Guard your families and keep them from the schemes of the evil one through the presence of God in them. Protect and keep them through prayer and dialog, through mutual understanding and forgiveness, through honesty and faithfulness, and most importantly, through listening.”

Happy feast of St. Charbel! This amazing Lebanese saint is known for working miracles! He is especially venerated in the Maronite Catholic Church, one of the many Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with Rome—if you’ve never been to a Maronite Mass, I can’t recommend it enough! The Consecration is even said in Aramaic, the same words that Jesus spoke. It is ancient and beautiful, a treasure of the Church.

St. Charbel, pray for us! 🙏

From Praying with Mother Teresa by Susan Conroy… my husband is reading this book and was struck by this beautiful prayer. We prayed it together as a family this morning.

The author notes that Mother Teresa said it was not possible to engage in God’s work “without being a soul at prayer.” I love how this fits in with celebrating St. Benedict’s feast day on Monday and the focus on “ora et labora.”

St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us! Holy Spirit, teach us how to pray! 🙏

“Ora et labora” or “pray and work” — a quick summation of the Benedictine rule. Inspired by God, Benedict lived a strict life and structured his monasteries as such to combat the lax attitudes in Roman society at the time. May his discipline inspire us as it still inspires and is the basis for modern monastic life. St. Benedict, pray for us!

Check out website to read more about St. Benedict and the other Saints featured on Holy Playing Cards!