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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Faith Reflection | Hope-2025 | Jubilee of Hope | power of prayer
Prayer is such a personal experience and different for everyone. We may be saying the same prayers out loud, but the words are being absorbed into our hearts and minds in different ways. Even as individuals, the same prayer or Bible passage can hit us in completely different ways depending on the season of life we are in or whatever situation we are working through. The prayer that brings me hope is the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Mary suffered so much over the course of her life. Because of her experiences, we can be assured that we have a Heavenly Mother who understands our own painful life circumstances and who longs to pour consolation into our hurting hearts. Learning about the Seven Sorrows of Mary was a grace for me when our daughter, Therese, was born with a fatal genetic disorder and passed away at sixteen days old 27 years ago. Mary’s Seven Sorrows gave me a way to connect some of the most sorrowful moments of my life during Therese’s 16-day journey to each of her own sorrows. In the time of some of my deepest grief, Mary’s experiences helped me to feel understood and less alone in my pain.
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Holy Women's History Month | Lenten Reflections | catholic mom | women's history month
Sometimes, in difficult life situations, we go searching for a saint, but sometimes, a saint comes searching for us. Several years ago, my daughter was going through some severe trauma that had a huge impact on my own heart. Only three weeks into the struggle, we were still in a state of shock and steeped deep in survival mode where even breathing felt like it took a lot of work. I couldn't figure out how to stop the pain in order to try and find some path of healing I wasn't sure even existed. As I dragged myself out of bed to head to daily Mass to continue begging God for help, I felt a nudge to invite my daughter to come with me. It turns out that on that particular morning, God was orchestrating a divine appointment. Prefer to Listen—Audio version available!
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During Lent 2023, I started an adventure with a special writing project about Our Lady of Sorrows. As part of my Lenten practices, I prayed one of Mary’s Sorrows for each day of the week, which was so convenient since there were seven of them! That practice continued post-Lent, as did my writing project, and I still pray one of the Sorrows (most!) mornings. Each of Mary's Sorrows has its own inspiration, as we see how the virtues of our Blessed Mother shine through in the most traumatic moments of her life. Knowing how Mary continually leaned into God and trusted Him despite tragic circumstances helps me to try and do the same when life becomes dark and feels hopeless. It's also very comforting to know that I have a Mother who desires to console me and can understand what I'm experiencing when I face deep loss and grief.
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