When Saint Benedict Saved My Life

Ugh, today didn't start out the way I planned. It was one of those mornings. I swung my feet over the side of the bed, sat up, and the room spun. I just needed to lie back down and do it again, slowly, so that my positional vertigo caught up with my surroundings. Then, my crumbling knees and wonky ankles wobbled over to the bureau and I decided on my outfit for my outing with the fam for brekkie. 

We drove south to Ellis Street on the island, where our destination Fina's Farmhouse is located, and the traffic was rather insane heading to New Jersey. We found out that there was an accident on the Outerbridge that wasn't going to be cleared up anytime soon. Now I'm no food critic, but I've had way better at a diner than I did at Fina's. Lisa's honey butter pancakes were suspiciously under cooked and not what she expected. We sat and watched them pour Timmy's apple juice from a Shoprite container into a plastic cup with ice, which cost $3, and oddest of all, they only had two types of tea ~ black regular and green. Now, I LOVE black tea, but my body hasn't done caffeine since the 90's so it was a disappointing green tea for me. But sitting with family for breakfast, or any meal, is priceless isn't it? 

When i got home I changed and headed into the backyard to say my Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet. That's when I started to think of just how fragile life is. I'm not sure what got me thinking about it but I thought of January 2025 when I was in the hospital with pnemonia and a UTI. Oh, I know what it was! My sugar is absolute crap today. It was crashing when I woke up so I ate a banana (worst fruit ever for a diabetic). I have cyclical Cushing's syndrome so my sugar goes up when I get stressed, or if if I'm sick, or if my cortisol is wonky, or if I'm surprised, or if it's a Friday in August or no reason at all. Of course what I eat happens to affect it too, but normally my blood sugar just needs a high cortisol to get it pumping so it can and does raise while fasting too. 

Anyhoo, literally a week or so before going into the hospital in 2025, I had received 5 or 6 Saint Benedict medals for myself and my family that had been blessed by an Exorcist (how cool is that?) My cousin knew a guy, that knew him or something like that, but anyway, I got them and instantly switched the blackened one on my neck for the new one, so I had a brand new, shiny, Saint Benedict jubilee medal on my neck. At dinner time the lovely lady from dietary came and delivered my dinner and also a half turkey sandwich for later in the evening. ( You know how hospitals are ~ serve dinner at 4:30-5 and the next meal is breakfast at 8:30 the next day.) The hospital administers insulin to diabetics before you eat, based on a finger stick just prior to the meal, and the shot is adjusted based on your numbers. At around 10, the aide came in to do a finger stick and give me my regular dose of long-lasting insulin for the night. At one point the doctor decided that the sugar was still too high so he sent her in again with another 10 units and then again with another 60 units, that was way, way, way over-medicating me. Aside from that, my long-lasting insulin should not be mixed with the short ones.

The moment she left I started to feel sick. I can't even begin to describe what it did to me mentally. I couldn't even form the words to talk, my heart starting racing and I broke out in a sweat. Most of all, I swear I could feel my soul about to leave my body. It was a very odd feeling like my body was transitioning. I knew that I was in trouble because I was in the bed but didn't feel connected to my body. Very odd. My first thought was to get that sandwich into my mouth, which I did along with the graham cookies that were with it. My roommate saw that I was in trouble and came over to me (she was a nurse too) and got the nurse and they got orange juice, opened it up, and added sugar to it. The nurse then took my sugar and it was in the low 20's!!!!! That's a coma number. After my body started to calm down, the nurse told me to get some sleep and I told her that I was afraid to, because I was afraid I would die in my sleep. She assured me she would watch out for me and I did finally manage to get to sleep.  

Now, normally, I have to ask for a snack in the evenings, but that day dietary brought it without me asking. Saint Benedict is the patron saint against many things, but one of them is poison. Insulin is poison to a body that doesn't need it. I'm a firm believer that It was the intercession of Saint Benedict, who I have a devotion to, that I am still here. If I didn't have that half a sandwich and graham cookie, I would never have been able to function and get my roomies attention. Praise the Lord, and thank you Saint Benedict. You won't change my mind about that and say what you want, but I just happened to get a new Saint Benedict medal, blessed by an exorcist, a week before I was overdosed on a poison? Yes, it was him.

So that is when Saint Benedict saved my life. It is because of his intercession, and God, that I am still here and able to enjoy brekkie with the family and my little Timothy.

Enjoy each day. Life is so fragile. Love and peace to you.

Mare 

 

 

I Had A Call Last Week...

 and it was just the oddest thing EVER. Normally, we get 10 calls a day from Google asking to verify our listing (t's been verified) and other spammers, so I honestly don't answer if the call is flagged as potential spam. Darn bots!! Anyway, Someone didn't realize they were leaving a message and I heard them say "OK Father, hello? Hello?" so I called them back (extremely rare without an actual message). I told her about the website and she said that she had looked at it, but it didn't look Catholic or even Christian. Ummm, what? I wholeheartedly hope she was looking at another site. 

 

The site is only 3 pages, and it does have a link to the store, but what doesn't look Catholic? Our ebay store has the same banner, btw, so that you know you are in the right place.  I had a nice little chat with her and told her what we carry.

To get to the ebay store directly you can use the following link, or the one to the right of this post (on a computer or classic blog style on phones). Our current list of items available are:

Rosary beads (all price ranges and styles including gemstones, sterling, pewter, freshwater pearl, plastic, wood), Rosary cases/holders, rosary bracelets, rosary rings, rosary necklaces, statues, pictures, icons, triptychs, diptychs, keychains, magnets, incense, crib medals, sterling silver medals, crosses, crucifixes and pins (made in the U.S.), veils/caplets, Cameos, chaplets, pocket prayer books & novenas, coins/charms, reliquaries, fonts, holy water bottles, devotional jewelry, Miraculous Medals, scapulars, tapestries, sports medals both pewter and sterling silver, and some beautiful tiles! www.ebay.com/str/gloryglorygifts. 

I assure you, we are Catholic. As always, if you are looking for something and do not see it, feel free to contact us via ebay messaging or Mare@gloryglorygifts.com. I don't suggest using the chat on the website as there is a delay in getting responses. Til next time. 

Have a good week and God bless.

Peace,

Mare 

Musings......

 I was just thinking the other day how incredibly blessed my current life is, for this week, and the last few anyway. Every day, I have the will to get up and get going because of my absolute love of Glory Glorying, my great grandson, my artwork, my family, my prayer life and my God. You all know how life is ~ everything is just glorious and then in one minute your life falls apart. Sadly, I've had decades upon decades of life falling apart, so it is extremely nice to have the lulls where everyone is happy, healthy and in a good place all at once. Of course, that's been true throughout my life.

I'm a huge fan of just sitting and listening to the silence and solitude in my mil studio and streaming adoration from Poland with my Rosary in hand. You cannot imagine how that centers me and dulls the craziness that sometimes goes on all around me. The craziness fades into the corners. Even the birds outside are quieted from the extreme heat hitting NYC this week. It's too hot to bicker over berries and bugs, so they just perch and observe. At the moment, the household cats and my dog aren't trying to find common ground to play with each other, which usually entails lots of hissing, barking and an occasional punch thrown by Luna (king of the castle). Except for the intermittent sound of the a/c unit coming on, no other appliances or electronics are adding to the din. Nobody is home, except for me. It's quiet in all its beauty.

Then slowly, the house will come alive again with the family returning, one by one. The doors will open and the animals mingle, or avoid each other depending on their moods. We will sit as a family and enjoy dinner. Our littlest member, Timothy, is learning to clasp his hands as we pray over our meal. Then we spend time as a family until he goes up for his bath and bedtime. It's such an incredible joy and blessing to have loved ones to spend time with and that want to spend with you too. 

Enjoy the small moments in your life that will create memories and sustain you for the times to come. Find that quiet time during the day to spend with God and refresh your heart and soul. Time is flying by ferociously, so grasp those moments. Make time for God and family, for without them life truly is vacant. 

Peace,

Mare 

It Occurred to Me...

 

 

Last week I was outside doing my daily prayers and a great thought came to me. Usually when you say the Rosary, you say it and contemplate the mystery associated with the decade. As you know, there are 20 of them and you meditate on them while you say it. If you don't know how the Rosary is structured, let me refresh your memory:

Joyous Mysteries: The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Nativity, The Presentation in the Temple, Finding Jesus in the Temple. (Mondays, Saturdays)

Sorrowful Mysteries: The Agony in the Garden, The Scourging at the Pillar, The Crowning with Thorns, The Carrying of the Cross, The Crucifixion. (Tuesday, Friday)

Glorious Mysteries: The Resurrection, The Ascension, The Descent of the Holy Spirit, The Assumption of Mary and The Coronation of Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth. (Wednesday, Sunday)

Luminous Mysteries: The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, The Miracle at Cana, The Proclamation of the Kingdom, The Transfiguration and The Institution of the Eucharist. (Thursday)

Sometimes it is very difficult to stay focused while you pray. That's why it helps sometimes to stop and try to visualize the mystery or maybe look at a picture of it while you pray. We have some wonderful little Rosary Books at the store if you need a visual to help you btw, and it is currently under $5!

Okay, so what was I thinking? I was thinking of a way to say the Divine Mercy Chaplet and tie it into your daily Rosary. The Divine Mercy Chaplet has 5 decades of 10, as does the Rosary, so while you are saying it contemplate on the Sorrowful Mysteries! Instead of just reciting, "for the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world," visualize His agony in the garden, His scourging, His crowning with thorns, His carrying of the cross and His crucifixion for each decade of beads. Makes perfect sense to me, especially since I say them at the same time. For me, it brings the chaplet to a whole other level.  The chaplet can be found to the right of this post or above. 

The other thing that I wanted to tell you about is the absolute need to go to Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as often as you can. As Catholics, we believe that Jesus is present in the Eucharist, body, blood soul and divinity after it is consecrated by the priest. Many churches have adoration. Check your parish, and local churches, to see if and when they have it. That is 100% a life-changing event to include daily/weekly visits to the blessed sacrament. I 1000% believe that He is present in the Eucharist, because of my own experiences (which you can find on this blog, and also to the right). 

If you cannot possibly make it to an adoration chapel, there is an absolutely beautiful live stream from Poland's Saint Maximillian Kolbe parish on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v+BlR18Pvy11U. If you say the Hail Mary, the Our Father, and Saint Maximillian Kolbe, pray for us, you will receive an indulgence. If the link doesn't work, search for live adoration on YouTube from Poland. EWTN also has it on their site on there. The chapel, statue of Mother Mary and Eucharist, is truly magnificent, but nothing beats being at a chapel irl, so my suggestion is to get to your local parish as often as you can! 

That's it for now. Have an amazing day and be careful in the horribly hot temps moving across the country.

Peace,

Mare