A Young Woman’s Daybook {Goodbye Summer}

Today…

“I come hither so that by this hart that thou huntest I may hunt thee.” -Our Lord to St. Eustace

September 20th, 2019: Ember Friday in September as well as the feast of St. Eustace and Companions! A blessed Ember day to you, and may St. Eustace and his holy family intercede for us and our families! I absolutely love St. Eustace; he is one of my favorite Holy Helpers, and Saints in general. His story is edifying in the extreme, and you can read it in more depth here. But my favorite thing about him is how, even when he was a pagan soldier, before the miraculous hunting trip when he encountered Christ, he was already faithful to the practice of the works of mercy. What love Christ must have had for this noble soul He ‘hunted out’, who was honoring Him ignorantly, as Our Lord put it. May we who have been privileged to know Christ from the beginning of our lives be filled with the zeal of St. Eustace in exercising the works of mercy!

“Let the people show forth the wisdom of the Saints, and the Church declare their praise: and their name liveth unto generation and generation. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye just: praise becometh the upright.”
(Introit from the Mass for St. Eustace & Companions)

Outside my window…

Today also happens to be the first day we’ve had a reprieve from somewhat exhausting summer heat around here…it was 60 degrees and breezy around nine this morning, which drew my mom and younger siblings and I all out to enjoy the glorious weather. This is the first time in waking memory I can remember it feeling so much like fall here before it’s even fall. But hey, I think we’ve had a hot enough summer that it’s high time! Deo Gratias for the beauty of fall coming!

This summer I’ve discovered the energy I get from spending more time outside my window than on this side of it…I don’t know if it’s better oxygen, Vitamin D, or what, but spending a little time even just sitting outside each day has really helped both my energy level and occasional low spirits. Maybe it’s just contact with God’s creation, which whispers constantly to us of His goodness.

Home around me…

Home around me has seen a lot of changes over the summer. Our nest has sent forth the first of its chicks off to make her own nest (which she is doing a lovely job of, by the way. I’m so proud of her!) That having been said, I’ve become the oldest sibling at home. This has been a transition I’ve been approaching consciously for a while. I have to say it’s been very blessed; I’ve enjoyed the experience of the confidence that comes in doing what you have to do when it’s needed, and finding that you can do it, and even do it well. Laugh at my youth if you like, but I’ve been feeling a lot more grown up. Driving has become a lot more of my life, chauffeuring younger siblings around, running errands, even getting myself to Adoration once in a while and a little part-time job I’ve just started at a nearby convent of wonderful Sisters. Although I know it’s my guardian angel and patron Saints that keep me safe, and from time to time I’m the inexperienced driver that I hope other drivers will forgive, I do feel I’m getting the hang of it and it’s not nearly as scary as it used to be. I enjoy driving by myself, especially in the morning, with my Jon Foreman music on shuffle. It can get to be pretty epic feeling…but even dinner dishes are epic with Jon 🙂

Another fun part of the transition into that oldest role is the sense of jurisdiction that naturally came over me in regards to housekeeping. Mary did a lot around here, and thus left a large gap, and so everyone’s had to step up a little more…but I’ve really come to enjoy buzzing around the house and playing housewife. As my grandmother battles through the awful rigors of chemotherapy, and my mom puts on yet another cap of caretaker in addition to all the others she wears, it comforts me to be able to do the little things I do around here for her sake. I know it’s her love language to come home to a freshly-vacuumed carpet, organized drawer, or cleared-off counter. And she certainly deserves a little TLC in her love language right now!

Besides all that, our home school is in full swing for our two studious students left. I can’t believe they’re both in high school (I feel old). The girl’s room, which underwent some major renovating after Mary moved out, is feeling more and more like home, especially for me since I just made a small prayer altar for myself–which I should have done long ago. I was inspired by a story a Sister was telling me about some little boys who went home from a catechesis class and, without even having been told to, made a prayer altar. Mary was so good about having focal points for purposeful prayer in our room, and it’s taken me a little time to pick up her slack…but better late than never! With some holy water, a rosary, a long-beloved little statue of the Child Jesus, a few beautiful holy cards from Portraits of Saints, my Missal and a few other things, it’s a wonderful place to light and pray. I didn’t realize how much I needed it.

Thoughts on dreams…

Did you know that dreams come true?

I’ve been meaning to post about my Wyoming trip back in August ever since I got home, but life has been busy, and sometimes it’s just hard to put something so amazing into words. I learned so much in the two weeks I traveled by myself to Sheridan, Wyoming, and spent with my sweet cousin and her family; I learned about life and people and myself, about loneliness and confidence and how sometimes, things you’ve built up in your mind all your life are even better than you imagined and not a letdown.

But I think one of the most obvious things I was shown was that dreams do come true–because God cares, even about the little dreams that are important to us but don’t seem that important in the grand scheme of things. I’m not sure how else to process the moment when I found myself on the back of a horse on a ranch in Wyoming, gazing around me at a West that stretched to the edge of the sky–literally living a moment that I’d been longing for inside since I was about three years old (I’m not exaggerating). Or when I found myself standing in Laramie…or bonding with my cousin at a level we’d never had a chance to before…or taking off on my last flight home through a sunset with the lyrics of Switchfoot’s Love Alone is Worth the Fight swimming in my ears, “Let’s go headed down the open road unknown…And we find what we’re made of through the open door. Is it fear you’re afraid of? What are you waiting for? Love alone is worth the fight.”, singing to me the peace I’d found in making a great adventure out of my comfort zone…like hundreds and hundreds of miles out of it…and not regretting one step of it.

It was the trip of a lifetime and a dream come true. It was a gift from God and my family and cousin, who made it possible. It came at the perfect time in my life, when I desperately needed a dream to come true and a shot in the arm of confidence, experience, and love.

I’m back home now, and I feel like that adventure has equipped me in so many ways for the adventure of grown-up life that I am just starting into. But part of me will always be on the back of that horse, and sitting on my cousin’s front porch laughing and talking and sometimes crying with her, and on that plane heading home through a sunset.

Prayerfully…

Please, please say a prayer for my dear grandmother, who is suffering so much right now as she battles cancer. She is so brave and strong, but even from the outside looking in I know this is unlike anything she’s ever gone through. We are praying especially for the intercession of Blessed Solanus Casey, if you’d be so kind as to join us! May God reward you!

A parting thought…

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.”
-St. Augustine of Hippo

God bless you!
In our Loving Lady,
Lena

Novena to St. Eustace begins {a day late. . .there’s a good explanation!}

Happy feast of the most Holy Name of Mary!

“Your name, O Mary, is a precious ointment, which breathes forth the odor of Divine Grace. Let this ointment of salvation enter the inmost recesses of our souls.”
-St. Ambrose

Just wanted to drop in and announce the beginning of the novena to dear St. Eustace. . .which I really should’ve done yesterday. But ’twas not to be, as, between 7:45 in the morning and after 10 in the evening, I was only at home for about one short hour (forty minutes of which I spent in a totally necessary nap). It was a wonderful day; the morning half (about five hours) I spent with seven of the most precious kids in the world, from nine years old down to infant, trying to help out their mom and at the same time gain a little useful experience. What a ball that was! I hope to post more about it soon, but let it suffice to say I can’t wait to do it again! The afternoon half of the day I spent chaperoning, and didn’t alight back home until late. Too late to post. 😦

But. . .prayer is outside of time, right? Right!

Plus, I really love St. Eustace, and I wasn’t about to skip his novena here just because of an extremely full, busy day!

I hope to share more about him on (or around!) his feast day, but you can read what I wrote last year here, if you like! He is the patron of hunters, those dealing with family troubles and adversity in general.

I thought I would include this time the opening and closing prayers that Fr. Hammer provides for each Holy Helper novena, in addition to those particular prayers to St. Eustace. They are really beautiful!

Opening Prayer

Almighty and eternal God! With lively faith and reverently worshiping Thy divine Majesty, I prostrate myself before Thee and invoke with filial trust Thy supreme bounty and mercy. Illumine the darkness of my intellect with a ray of Thy heavenly light and inflame my heart with the fire of Thy divine love, that I may contemplate the great virtues and merits of the saint in whose honor I make this novena, and following his example imitate, like him, the life of Thy divine Son.
Moreover, I beseech Thee to grant graciously, through the merits and intercession of this powerful Helper, the petition which through him I humbly place before Thee, devoutly saying, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Vouchsafe graciously to hear it, if it redounds to Thy greater glory and to the salvation of my soul. Amen.

Prayer in Honor of St. Eustace

O God, who didst lead Thy holy martyr Eustachius safely through many trials and dangers to the glorious crown of martyrdom; enlighten and strengthen us through his intercession, that we persevere in Thy love amid the trials of this life, and by resignation to Thy holy will come forth from the darkness of this earth into the light of Thy eternal glory. Amen.

Invocation of St. Eustace

Heroic servant of God, St. Eustachius, cast from the height of earthly glory and power into the deepest misery, thou wast engaged for a long time in the labor of a menial servant, eating the bitter bread of destitution; but never didst thou murmur against the severe probation to which God subjected thee. I implore thee to aid me with thy powerful intercession, that in all conditions I may resign myself to the holy will of God, and particularly that I may bear poverty and its consequences with patience, trusting in God’s providence, completely resigned to the decrees of Him who humbles and exalts, chastises and heals, sends trials and consolations, and who has promised to those who follow Him in the spirit of poverty His beatific vision throughout all eternity. Amen.

Concluding Prayer

My Lord and my God! I offer up to Thee my petition in union with the bitter passion and death of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, together with the merits of His immaculate and blessed Mother, Mary ever virgin, and of all the saints, particularly with those of the holy Helper in whose honor I make this novena.

Look down upon me, merciful Lord! Grant me Thy grace and Thy love, and graciously hear my prayer. Amen.

May our Lord bless you and St. Eustace intercede for you and your family!
In the Name of our Loving Lady,
Lena

Novena to St. Eustace begins today

With so much to pray for right now in this fallen world, I find it comforting that the start of the novena to St. Eustace & Companions begins today. Although I had heard parts of his story in different places, it wasn’t until preparing for this post that I realized they all centered around the same incredible Saint, whose wife and two sons are honored along with him in the cloud of witnesses.

“I am Jesu Christ, whom thou honorest ignorantly, thy alms be ascended up tofore me, and therefore I come hither so that by this hart that thou huntest I may hunt thee.”

 I found the first part of this edifying story on Fish Eaters, sourced from “The Golden Legend” by Jacobus de Voragine (written in 1275, which accounts for the rather archaic language. Bear with it, though; it’s worth reading!), and wanted to share it here.

Eustace, which first was named Placidus, was master of the chivalry of Trajan, the emperor, and was right busy in the works of mercy, but he was a worshipper of idols. And he had a wife of the same rite, and also of the deeds of mercy, of whom he had two sons, which he did do nourish after his estate. And because he was ententive to the works of mercy, he deserved to be enlumined to the way of truth.
So on a day, as he was on hunting, he found an herd of harts, among whom he saw one more fair and greater than the other, which departed from the company and sprang into the thickest of the forest. And the other knights ran after the other harts, but Placidus siewed him with all his might, and enforced to take him. And when the hart saw that he followed with all his power, at the last he went up on a high rock, and Placidus approaching nigh, thought in his mind how he might take him.
And as he beheld and considered the hart diligently, he saw between his horns the form of the holy cross shining more clear than the sun, and the image of Christ, which by the mouth of the hart, like as sometime Balaam by the ass, spake to him, saying: Placidus, wherefore followest me hither? I am appeared to thee in this beast for the grace of thee. I am Jesu Christ, whom thou honourest ignorantly, thy alms be ascended up tofore me, and therefore I come hither so that by this hart that thou huntest I may hunt thee.
And some other say that this image of Jesu Christ which appeared between the horns of the hart said these words.
And when Placidus heard that, he had great dread, and descended from his horse to the ground.
And an hour after he came to himself, and arose from the ground, and said: Rehearse again this that thou hast said, and I shall believe thee.
And then our Lord said: I am Jesu Christ that formed heaven and earth, which made the light to increase, and divided it from darkness, and established time, days, and hours. Which formed men of the slime of the earth, which appeared on earth in flesh for the health of the lineage human, which was crucified, dead, buried, and arose the third day.
And when Placidus heard this, he fell down again to the earth, and said: I believe, Lord, that thou art he that made all things, and convertest them that err.
And our Lord said to him: If thou believest, go to the bishop of the city and do thee be baptized.
And Placidus said to him: Lord, wilt thou that I hide this thing from my wife and my sons?
And our Lord said to him: Tell to them that they also make them clean with thee. And see that thou come again to-morrow hither that I appear again to thee, and may show to thee that which shall come hereafter to thee.
And when he was come home to his house, and had told this thing to his wife in their bed, she cried: My Lord! and said: And I saw him this night that is passed, and he said to me: To-morn thou, thy husband, and thy sons, shall come to me. And now I know that it was Christ.
Then they went to the bishop of Rome at midnight, which baptized them with great joy, and named Placidus, Eustace, and his wife, Theospis.

As though this story was not a clear enough picture of St. Eustace’s goodness in honoring the Christ he did not know, so much that he merited such a profound grace, it continues that after his and his family’s conversion, he was discovered and thrown out of the army, losing his fortune. His wife was kidnapped by pirates and his sons were attacked by wild beasts.

Some years later, a military crisis resulted in Eustace being recalled to the army. His family, having lived through their various trials, were reunited with him, and for a time they were together in peace. Then Eustace, faithful to the end, refused to thank the gods he had once worshipped for the triumph of the army he led. Suffering many cruel torments for this choice, he and his wife Theospis and their two sons were burned to death in 120 A.D.

St. Eustace & Family, give our families your integrity, your faithfulness, your love for Christ!

Needless to say, St. Eustace is numbered among the Fourteen Holy Helpers, and (fittingly) is the patron saint of hunters. He and his noble and righteous family are honored by their Holy Mother the Church on September 20th.

Novena to St. Eustace & Companions

O God, Who dost permit us to celebrate the heavenly birthday of Thy holy Martyrs
Eustace and Companions: grant that we may rejoice in their fellowship in everlasting bliss.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.