Divine Mercy in La Crosse

Last Saturday night we called up some family friends at 11pm at night (Mike was sure they were still awake!) and asked them if they wanted to accompany us to the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in La Crosse, Wisconsin. They, in fact, did want to join us so we all piled in to our mini van at 7:30am the next morning for the 2 hour drive. 4 adults and 4 carseats! Saint Maria Faustina (whom we named our little girl after)received revelations into God's divine mercy and Pope John Paul II made the Sunday after Easter - Divine Mercy Sunday - a special day to renew ourselves in God's goodness and his mercy.

We had an excellent brunch at the Shrine, walked the mile up to the Church and went to mass, confession, and then said the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Last time we were here it was the summer of '09 while I was pregnant with Jude and my Mom was sick. We were headed out to Michigan and visited the shrine for the first time. Life is certainly very different a few short years later. It was fun to visit it again - perhaps we will make it a tradition on Divine Mercy Sunday.

The monks make delicious food at their cafe. Everything is made from fresh ingredients and full of flavor. It really is very good.


The priest at mass sounded like he just got off a plane from Russia. Thick accent, almost hard to understand.He gave a stellar homily.


Here is our Faustina by the picture of Saint Faustina and a first class relic of Saint Faustina. The art work in the Church is breath taking.





Faustina and Belle in front of a bronze statue of Our Lady appearing to Juan Diego.




They have a beautiful 'rosary walk'. They have pictures of each mystery in blue and white tile on a wall.

Blessed John Paul II

Homily, Pope Benedict XVI, Rome 1 May 2011

During the Mass in which Pope Benedict XVI beatified his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, he gave the following homily.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Six years ago we gathered in this Square to celebrate the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Our grief at his loss was deep, but even greater was our sense of an immense grace which embraced Rome and the whole world: a grace which was in some way the fruit of my beloved predecessor’s entire life, and especially of his witness in suffering. Even then we perceived the fragrance of his sanctity, and in any number of ways God’s People showed their veneration for him. For this reason, with all due respect for the Church’s canonical norms, I wanted his cause of beatification to move forward with reasonable haste. And now the longed-for day has come; it came quickly because this is what was pleasing to the Lord: John Paul II is blessed!


I would like to offer a cordial greeting to all of you who on this happy occasion have come in such great numbers to Rome from all over the world – cardinals, patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches, brother bishops and priests, official delegations, ambassadors and civil authorities, consecrated men and women and lay faithful, and I extend that greeting to all those who join us by radio and television.
Today is the Second Sunday of Easter, which Blessed John Paul II entitled Divine Mercy Sunday. The date was chosen for today’s celebration because, in God’s providence, my predecessor died on the vigil of this feast. Today is also the first day of May, Mary’s month, and the liturgical memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker. All these elements serve to enrich our prayer, they help us in our pilgrimage through time and space; but in heaven a very different celebration is taking place among the angels and saints! Even so, God is but one, and one too is Christ the Lord, who like a bridge joins earth to heaven. At this moment we feel closer than ever, sharing as it were in the liturgy of heaven.


"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe" (Jn 20:29). In today’s Gospel Jesus proclaims this beatitude: the beatitude of faith. For us, it is particularly striking because we are gathered to celebrate a beatification, but even more so because today the one proclaimed blessed is a Pope, a Successor of Peter, one who was called to confirm his brethren in the faith. John Paul II is blessed because of his faith, a strong, generous and apostolic faith. We think at once of another beatitude: "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven" (Mt 16:17). What did our heavenly Father reveal to Simon? That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Because of this faith, Simon becomes Peter, the rock on which Jesus can build his Church. The eternal beatitude of John Paul II, which today the Church rejoices to proclaim, is wholly contained in these sayings of Jesus: "Blessed are you, Simon" and "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe!" It is the beatitude of faith, which John Paul II also received as a gift from God the Father for the building up of Christ’s Church.


Our thoughts turn to yet another beatitude, one which appears in the Gospel before all others. It is the beatitude of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer. Mary, who had just conceived Jesus, was told by Saint Elizabeth: "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord" (Lk 1:45). The beatitude of faith has its model in Mary, and all of us rejoice that the beatification of John Paul II takes place on this first day of the month of Mary, beneath the maternal gaze of the one who by her faith sustained the faith of the Apostles and constantly sustains the faith of their successors, especially those called to occupy the Chair of Peter. Mary does not appear in the accounts of Christ’s resurrection, yet hers is, as it were, a continual, hidden presence: she is the Mother to whom Jesus entrusted each of his disciples and the entire community. In particular we can see how Saint John and Saint Luke record the powerful, maternal presence of Mary in the passages preceding those read in today’s Gospel and first reading. In the account of Jesus’ death, Mary appears at the foot of the cross (Jn 19:25), and at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles she is seen in the midst of the disciples gathered in prayer in the Upper Room (Acts 1:14).
Today’s second reading also speaks to us of faith. Saint Peter himself, filled with spiritual enthusiasm, points out to the newly-baptized the reason for their hope and their joy. I like to think how in this passage, at the beginning of his First Letter, Peter does not use language of exhortation; instead, he states a fact. He writes: "you rejoice", and he adds: "you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls" (1 Pet 1:6, 8-9). All these verbs are in the indicative, because a new reality has come about in Christ’s resurrection, a reality to which faith opens the door. "This is the Lord’s doing", says the Psalm (118:23), and "it is marvelous in our eyes", the eyes of faith.


Dear brothers and sisters, today our eyes behold, in the full spiritual light of the risen Christ, the beloved and revered figure of John Paul II. Today his name is added to the host of those whom he proclaimed saints and blesseds during the almost twenty-seven years of his pontificate, thereby forcefully emphasizing the universal vocation to the heights of the Christian life, to holiness, taught by the conciliar Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium. All of us, as members of the people of God – bishops, priests, deacons, laity, men and women religious – are making our pilgrim way to the heavenly homeland where the Virgin Mary has preceded us, associated as she was in a unique and perfect way to the mystery of Christ and the Church. Karol Wojtyła took part in the Second Vatican Council, first as an auxiliary Bishop and then as Archbishop of Kraków. He was fully aware that the Council’s decision to devote the last chapter of its Constitution on the Church to Mary meant that the Mother of the Redeemer is held up as an image and model of holiness for every Christian and for the entire Church. This was the theological vision which Blessed John Paul II discovered as a young man and subsequently maintained and deepened throughout his life. A vision which is expressed in the scriptural image of the crucified Christ with Mary, his Mother, at his side. This icon from the Gospel of John (19:25-27) was taken up in the episcopal and later the papal coat-of-arms of Karol Wojtyła: a golden cross with the letter "M" on the lower right and the motto "Totus tuus", drawn from the well-known words of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort in which Karol Wojtyła found a guiding light for his life: "Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt. Accipio te in mea omnia. Praebe mihi cor tuum, Maria – I belong entirely to you, and all that I have is yours. I take you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart" (Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, 266).


In his Testament, the new Blessed wrote: "When, on 16 October 1978, the Conclave of Cardinals chose John Paul II, the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, said to me: ‘The task of the new Pope will be to lead the Church into the Third Millennium’". And the Pope added: "I would like once again to express my gratitude to the Holy Spirit for the great gift of the Second Vatican Council, to which, together with the whole Church – and especially with the whole episcopate – I feel indebted. I am convinced that it will long be granted to the new generations to draw from the treasures that this Council of the twentieth century has lavished upon us. As a Bishop who took part in the Council from the first to the last day, I desire to entrust this great patrimony to all who are and will be called in the future to put it into practice. For my part, I thank the Eternal Shepherd, who has enabled me to serve this very great cause in the course of all the years of my Pontificate". And what is this "cause"? It is the same one that John Paul II presented during his first solemn Mass in Saint Peter’s Square in the unforgettable words: "Do not be afraid! Open, open wide the doors to Christ!" What the newly-elected Pope asked of everyone, he was himself the first to do: society, culture, political and economic systems he opened up to Christ, turning back with the strength of a titan – a strength which came to him from God – a tide which appeared irreversible. By his witness of faith, love and apostolic courage, accompanied by great human charisma, this exemplary son of Poland helped believers throughout the world not to be afraid to be called Christian, to belong to the Church, to speak of the Gospel. In a word: he helped us not to fear the truth, because truth is the guarantee of liberty. To put it even more succinctly: he gave us the strength to believe in Christ, because Christ is Redemptor hominis, the Redeemer of man. This was the theme of his first encyclical, and the thread which runs though all the others.


When Karol Wojtyła ascended to the throne of Peter, he brought with him a deep understanding of the difference between Marxism and Christianity, based on their respective visions of man. This was his message: man is the way of the Church, and Christ is the way of man. With this message, which is the great legacy of the Second Vatican Council and of its "helmsman", the Servant of God Pope Paul VI, John Paul II led the People of God across the threshold of the Third Millennium, which thanks to Christ he was able to call "the threshold of hope". Throughout the long journey of preparation for the great Jubilee he directed Christianity once again to the future, the future of God, which transcends history while nonetheless directly affecting it. He rightly reclaimed for Christianity that impulse of hope which had in some sense faltered before Marxism and the ideology of progress. He restored to Christianity its true face as a religion of hope, to be lived in history in an "Advent" spirit, in a personal and communitarian existence directed to Christ, the fullness of humanity and the fulfillment of all our longings for justice and peace.


Finally, on a more personal note, I would like to thank God for the gift of having worked for many years with Blessed Pope John Paul II. I had known him earlier and had esteemed him, but for twenty-three years, beginning in 1982 after he called me to Rome to be Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I was at his side and came to revere him all the more. My own service was sustained by his spiritual depth and by the richness of his insights. His example of prayer continually impressed and edified me: he remained deeply united to God even amid the many demands of his ministry. Then too, there was his witness in suffering: the Lord gradually stripped him of everything, yet he remained ever a "rock", as Christ desired. His profound humility, grounded in close union with Christ, enabled him to continue to lead the Church and to give to the world a message which became all the more eloquent as his physical strength declined. In this way he lived out in an extraordinary way the vocation of every priest and bishop to become completely one with Jesus, whom he daily receives and offers in the Eucharist.


Blessed are you, beloved Pope John Paul II, because you believed! Continue, we implore you, to sustain from heaven the faith of God’s people. Amen.

[Vatican Press Office; Original: Italian]

It's Divine Mercy Sunday

John Paul II will also be beatified today by Pope Benedict XVI.

Prayers taught to St. Faustina by our Lord, Jesus Christ:

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.

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

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.

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

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One,
have mercy on us and on the whole world.
[recite this last prayer three times, once for each member of the Holy Trinity]

Amen.

Remembering Gail & Giving Thanks

First of all, I would like to direct you to Carmen's blog. He has kept this since March after Gail was diagnosed with cancer in early February. There are a lot of wonderful memories on here, especially what he has written this past week in honor of Gail. I want to honor Carmen for his powerful witness to love and service of his wife these past seven and a half months.

Since my own mother's death, Gail has been like a 2nd mother to me. I will miss her greatly: the profound friendship she had with Cynthia, her love for Faustina & Jude, her model of motherly goodness, the fun she and Carmen had together, and her kindness to me (among many other things). As I reflected yesterday, she treated me as if we had a special relationship; certainly we did, but she treated everyone that way. I am grateful to God for having Gail in my life.

Although I have faith that Gail is now with the Lord and I perhaps will earn the privilege to see her again in Eternity, it was still somewhat frustrating to go over to their place tonight and not see her; I had a hard time not talking about or thinking about her. The thoughts and feelings are the same as they were in 2003 (and I suspect will be for some time as then), and I don't think I can say much better than I did here.

Deo gratias. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and help these past days. The following is from the beautiful ending of Dante's Paradiso (XXXI, 1-42):

Then in the pattern of a pure white rose
Was shown to me the saintly soldiery
Whom Christ has made his bride with his own blood.

But the other host — who, flying, see and sing
The glory of him who fills them with his love
And the goodness that made them magnificent—

Just like a swarm of bees, alight in flowers
At one instant and in the next returning
To where their toil attains its fragrant taste—

Flew downward into that vast flower, fringed
With myriad petals, and rising up from it
Sped back to where their love forever rests.

Their faces all glowed with a living flame;
Their wings were gold, and their whole form so white
That no snow ever rivaled such pure whiteness.

When they dove to the flower, row on row,
They spread some portion of the love and peace
Which they won when they waved their wings on high.

Nor did the flight of such a multitude
Coming between the upper light and flower
Block out the vision and the sea of splendor.

For the divine light through the universe
So penetrates in measure to its worth
That there is nothing to stand in the way.

This jubilant and ever-restful kingdom,
Thronging with people of old and modern times,
Kept gaze and love all focused on one goal.

O threefold Light which, in a single star
Sparkling upon their sight, so pleases them,
Look down here on our storms that rage on earth!

If the barbarians, come from the North
Which day by day is spanned by Helice,
Rotating with her son on whom she dotes,

Were struck with wonder when they sighted Rome
And her high-towering buildings, at the time
The Lateran surpassed all mortal works,

I, who had come out of our human life
To the divine, from time to the eternal,
From Florence to a just and wholesome people —

What was the wonder which welled up in me!
In truth, what with my stupor and my joy,
I happily heard nothing and stood silent.

Requiescat in pace: Gail Marie Lee [2nd UPDATE]

Pictured: Gail & Jude - 3 weeks ago today just hours after his birth.
Grandma Gail passed away around 12:40pm on Monday.

We live in hope and we believe that she was born into Eternal Life.

She was a humble, gentle, kind, and profoundly faithful person - please pray for the repose of her soul.

We believe that Gail is in the Lord's protection now.

Thank you for your prayers.

Thursday, Sept. 17th - Prayer Service & Visitation at Trinity School at River Ridge (601 River Ridge Parkway, Eagan, MN 55121). Visitation will begin at 5:30 and run until 8pm; at 8pm there will be honoring of Gail - Cynthia and three others will share at this time.

Friday, Sept. 18 - Funeral Mass at Lumen Christi in St. Paul (2055 Bohland Ave, St Paul, MN 55116-1911) at 10 am followed by interment at Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights (2101 S. Lexington Ave., Mendota Hghts, MN 55120).

A luncheon estimated at 1pm will follow at Lumen Christi. All are welcome to every part of the day: funeral, interment, and luncheon.

Memorials will be printed in the Pioneer Press and Star Tribune the rest of the week.

This is what the obituary in the Pioneer Press and Star Tribune reads:

Loving Wife, Mother, Grandmother & Friend Age 63 Met Jesus September 14, 2009 with family by her side after a courageous battle with breast cancer. Survived by husband Carmen of 41 years, children John (Mary), Travis, Aaron (Amy), Cynthia (Mike), grandchildren Henry, Liam, Leo, Faustina, Audrey and Jude, mother Marian, brothers Allen (Debbie), Mark (Mary) and sister Debbie (Dale). Her father Charles Saunders preceded her in death. Gail grew up in North Dakota earning a Masters of Education from Minot College. However, she viewed her decision to be a "stay at home mother" her calling. Gail always made family her priority and served in countless ways as a covenant member of People of Praise Christian Community. Her joy and selflessness will be irreplaceable. Visitation 5:30-8pm Thursday September 17 at TRINITY SCHOOL AT RIVER RIDGE, (601 River Ridge Pkwy, Eagan), with a prayer service starting at 8pm at the school. Mass of Christian Burial 10 AM Friday September 18 at LUMEN CHRISTI CATHOLIC CHURCH, (2055 Bohland Ave., St. Paul), with a visitation 1 hr prior to the Mass at the church. Interment Resurrection Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred.

Praying for Grandma Gail... UPDATED

Grandma Gail, Cynthia's mom, is fighting hard against cancer right now. Please pray for Gail and for her family in this time.

We pray that the Lord's will be done, and that whatever happens will be filled with God's ever abundant grace, compassion, and mercy.

Asking for the intercession of St. Jude and St. Faustina on Gail's behalf is greatly appreciated. St. Jude is the patron of lost, difficult, or seemingly hopeless cases.

Praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and especially at 3pm (the hour Christ died for mankind's sins), is a wonderful way to support Gail and her family.

1. Begin with the Sign of the Cross, 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary and The Apostles Creed.

2. Then on the Our Father Beads say the following:
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.

3. On the 10 Hail Mary Beads say the following:
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

(Repeat step 2 and 3 for all five decades).

4. Conclude with (three times):
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Prayer Request for Baby Adkins [updated]

On Thursday I had an ultrasound at 21 weeks for our little one. There was nothing unusual about it and ultrasounds are always fun to see the baby moving all over the place.

This afternoon I received a call from our clinic; my doctor called instead of the nurse who usually calls just to say, "Everything looks fine. We'll see you at your next appointment.". Of course, immediately alarms went on in my mind.

She told me that the baby's weight looks good and s/he is on track for the original due date. There are, however, some abnormalities in the baby's kidneys. It looks like the baby has double kidneys on its left side. Since I am only halfway through the pregnancy it is difficult to tell exactly what is going on, but the possibilities are that there are 2 kidneys on the left side or there is a cyst on the one left kidney. I'll be going to a more advanced ultrasound lab in 4-6 weeks to find out more and will probably have an ultrasound every 4 weeks.

Dr. Mary said we won't have a complete diagnosis until the baby is born. She said it is very likely that it is a benign case - what that means I don't know. She didn't offer many details and my mind wasn't quick enough to formulate questions that I thought of later. I asked her if this is pretty unusual and she said yes it is. There was little information online about 'double kidneys'. We will try to assume the best and pray for little Adkins in the coming weeks.

========================

We'd ask that you pray the Divine Mercy Prayer (on right side-bar) for the little one and/or also the St. Jude prayer (below). St. Jude was Mike's Confirmation name and he's the saint of lost causes; that's why Mike chose him! Anyway, we'd appreciate any prayers. Also, we believe not only in the intercession of our friends and family in life, but those who have gone before us in faith - the saints. We encourage you to also ask for the intercession from these holy men and women who have yet to be canonized as saints:

-Pope John Paul II (+2005)
-Fr. Richard John Neuhaus (+2009)
-Blessed Mother Theresa (+1997)
-John Henry Cardinal Newman (+1890)
-Pope Pius XII (+1958)

Prayer for the intercession of St. Jude

Most holy apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally, as the patron of hopeless cases, of things almost despaired of. Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone. Make use I implore you, of that particular privilege given to you, to bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly - (here make your request) that I may praise God with you and all the elect forever.

I promise, O blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor, to always honor you as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you.

Amen.

Divine Mercy Sunday - April 19th

Here's an image of the shrine in Krakow, Poland.

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.

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

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.

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

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One,
have mercy on us and on the whole world.
[recite three times, once for each member of the Holy Trinity]

Amen.

About my name...

We named Faustina after the Polish nun, mystic, and saint, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska. Saint Faustina is known as the saint of "Divine Mercy". When we went to the hospital we had a short list of names for girls: Geneveve, Olivia, Loretta, and Penelope (also Lucy and Julia); but after she was born about an hour, Cynthia just started calling her "Faustina". We both really liked it right away. For some time, her middle name was "Maria" after virtually every female's middle name in both of our families! Naturally, we changed it to honor my mother, Elaine.

Her name originates in Latin and means: "fortunate, blessed, or auspicious".

Her middle name as stated above is in honor of her grandmother, Elaine Marie, who passed away on June 22, 2003 after a second bout of cancer. Her grandmother exhibited great virtue of faith and she was an anchor of family life. Faustina will be baptized at the Cathedral of St. Paul on June 22 in honor of Elaine. There is rich Christian symbolism here regarding Baptism. In Baptism, we are brought into the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection, thus symbolizing a birth to new life. As one can see, Elaine's death coincides both to Faustina's Christening into her new life with the Lord, as well as her own birth into eternal life with God. One day Elaine's body will be resurrected (with us all) and we will again be restored into life with the Holy Trinity as intended "in the beginning" (Gen. 1:1).

Enough theology, back to the name...
Elaine is a form of the Greek name Helen, which means "light, torch, or beacon".

Essentially, Faustina's first and middle name can mean "auspicious light"; we certainly hope she is such in our broken world!

NB: read all about the Divine Mercy devotion here.

Deo gratias!