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, with my crumbling knees and wonky ankles I 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. Turns out it was not only an accident but also an oil spill, so that would tie up traffic on the island to New Jersey for hours. Now that truly is a bad way to start a day. I just checked the news and thank God it doesn't appear that anyone was injured in the 3-car collision. PTL We sat in traffic for a bit but managed to get out of it so that was unexpected. Sigh.

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 us $3, and oddest of all, they only had two types of tea ~ black regular and green (according to the waitress). 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 though isn't it? I digress...

When i got home I changed into my play clothes 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 pneumonia and a UTI. Oh, I know what it was! My sugar is absolute crapola 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 tired, or singing, or exercising, or dancing,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. While in the hospital on the third day, at dinner time, the lovely lady from dietary came and delivered my dinner and also a half turkey sandwich and graham crackers 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-term 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 speak, my heart started 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 crackers that were with it. My roommate saw that I was in trouble, from my gray color and flailing arms) and came over to me (she was a nurse too) and yelled for the night nurse. They got orange juice, opened it up, and added sugar to it and had me gulp two of them. The nurse then took a finger stick and it was in the low 20's!!!!! That's a coma number. It started to go up from there. 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, you just get meals delivered but that day dietary brought those extras. Because of Cushing's, I have a horrible immune system and I'm constantly at the hospital or in the hospital for something and that's the first and only time that has ever happened. 

Saint Benedict is the patron saint of many things, but one of them is protection against poison. Insulin is poison to a body that doesn't need it. I'm a firm believer that it was 100% because of the intercession of Saint Benedict, whom 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 roomy's 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 jubilee 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. Thank your saints that answer your prayers. Thank God when you get a little God wink. Life is so fragile. Be kind to one another. Love and peace to you.

Mare 

 

 

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Said Daily at 3:00 P.M. on a Standard Rosary

 

CHAPLET OF THE DIVINE MERCY

Optional Opening Prayers:

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.

(Repeat 3 times) O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You!

Our Father, Hail Mary and the Apostle's Creed

For each of the five decades (On each “Our Father” bead of the rosary, pray)

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.

(On each of the 10 “Hail Mary” beads, pray)
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Concluding prayer (Repeat 3 times)
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Optional Closing Prayer
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.

Returning to Jesus, Through Mary

I don't know why people find that concept to be so confusing or even deny that it is even possible. Many people return to Jesus, or find Him, through His Mother.  Today, I couldn't imagine my life without Him. He is the reason why I get up each day and is the absolute center of my life. It hasn't always been this way. It has been a long and windy road for me but it was definitely His Mother that put me on the path to Him and I am most grateful to her for doing so.

Many years ago, going back to the mid-90's in fact, I was struggling with and juggling so many things. My Dad had died in '89 and my Mom had gotten sick shortly after that. Tom was young and we were running to evening and weekend things like basketball and Boy Scouts. I had a full-time, stressful, job was going to school at night, chauffeuring  him around, was a Scout leader and had a significant other. On top of that, I was caring for my gravely ill Mom. The same year that she was sick my best friend also became gravely ill. They passed away within months of each other, in 1994.

Way back then I was not a practicing Christian, let alone Catholic, but I did make it to church every Sunday. I was also heavily into spiritual stuff like psychic readings, tarot, crystals, healing and read everything I could get my hands on from people like Sylvia Brown and John Edward. I also dabbled with the Ouija when I was younger (BIG, BIG mistake).  I read the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Gnostic Gospels, the Infancy Gospels and all of the texts from the Nag Hammadi scrolls. I was definitely heading into more of a Gnostic bent than anything else. That is, until my Mom was in her last days with us.

I remember hospice telling us what to look for. People that are dying seem to be walking that fine line between our reality and the next. By the time my Mom was at that point I had already had the experience with two other close relatives but nothing prepared me for what happened with her. Quite a lot of things happened in the house when she was in her final week, but I will only acknowledge one of them that had a direct influence on my spiritual life. I have to first say that when people are dying, (those that are NOT medicated but going through the natural process), they can see and talk to us, but they also kind of disconnect from us and can see and hear things that we can't. They see those that have passed, they can see angels and other entities and they can hear and converse with them as well. Sometimes they are cognizant of both realities, other times they are in one or the other. I know this all sounds strange, but ask any hospice worker and they will tell you some amazing tales of their own. I saw it with my own eyes, as did anyone else that was in the room with her. I will call the periods of when she was not in our reality as "in the zone."

On that one occasion, I walked into the room, she was in the zone. She had a small, clear crystal, one-decade rosary on her bureau top that I had actually bought for her for Christmas one year. I hadn't picked one up in years, but I did pick up that one and started to pray on it. When I was done, I put it back on the bureau and sat with her, waiting for her to come back. When she did, she took my hand and said, "They said you are doing good with that." I asked, with what? She nodded toward the rosary beads and said, "with them." Well, knock my socks off, why don't you, Mom? She went on to tell me that "they" were praying with me. She was fully aware of them doing just that.

After she passed, I took the rosary. I started to pray on it once in a while. I learned how to say it correctly, reciting the mysteries of Jesus and contemplating them while the beads moved through my hands and the prayers through my heart. In 1998 I started going to the Monday night Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal novena at my church. I wasn't actually wearing one at the time but it was a beautiful service with prayers said to Mary, imploring her to protect us and lead us to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. During the novena, there was a short sermon by the priest and then a benediction, where songs were sung in Latin and the Eucharist was exposed for adoration. It is a beautiful service and I soon found that prayers asked for during the novena were being answered. My reciting of the rosary grew from one decade a day to all five. I can tell you, you cannot say a rosary without growing closer to Jesus as you meditate on so many of his experiences ~ the birth, the agony in the garden, the carrying of the cross, the crucifixion. THIS is how Mary brings people to Jesus through her.  By 1997, I was not only going to Mass on Sunday, I was listening to the readings and hearing them, I was singing the hymns, I was listening to the homily given by the priest, and I was not only saying the prayers but understanding the meanings. With that, something wonderful happened. The Mass became a time of community and joy and a celebration of Christ with us, instead of a place I had to be on Sundays because that is the way it always was with my family. I am going to make a suggestion here. Put the book down and LISTEN during the readings and the homily. Flipping pages and reading along is distracting.  Just listen.

Instead of just having a Bible in the house, I cracked it open and read it from cover to cover. I went to Bible study groups, read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, started to go to the perpetual adoration chapel at a local church and eventually at my own church when it was created. By leaps and bounds, by prayer and contemplation, by opening myself up to my faith and closing myself off to many of the temptations of the world I found Christ Jesus waiting for me.

Now, my days are filled with prayer and my love of the Lord. I say prayers, I share them, I write them and I teach them. In the world's eyes I am not wealthy but in my eyes I am rich and enriched beyond belief.  I am so blessed that I picked up a small rosary so many years ago and answered Mary's call to return to her Son. It has been an incredible ride and an amazing journey. Thank you Mother Mary for loving me that much.

Have a beautiful week, despite the weather.

Peace,
Mare

Daily Prayer

"Grace" by Eric Enstrom

Statistics show that Christian women pray daily more often then men at a difference of 61% to 51%. That is taking 53 countries into consideration. On average, Jewish men of Israel pray more than women at 34% vs 20%. In the U.S. and other countries, Jewish men and women daily prayer schedules are about the same at 71% and 72%. In the vast majority of countries surveyed, 34 out of 40, Muslim men and women prayed about the same amount of time, however, the men are more likely to attend weekly or daily service.

On average, the Jewish people pray 3 times a day. Shacharit (Morning service) varies by day:
Monday and Thursday mornings around 45 minutes
Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday around 30 minutes
Minchah (Afternoon service) about 15 minutes
Ma'ariv (Evening service) about 20 minutes 

Muslims pray 5 times a day for about 7 minutes each time, but prepare for each appointed time as well.

Catholics are called to pray several times throughout a day.  Some of the prayers they may say are morning Lauds, prayer before and after meals, The Rosary and Chaplet of the Divine Mercy at 3:00 P.M. daily, Act of Contrition and evening prayer. If one was to say all of these prayers the average amount of time spent in prayer, daily, would be a little over an hour. The average amount of time spent in prayer, for the majority of people that associate themselves as Catholics, is 5 minutes a day. That's just heartbreaking.

55% of Americans say they pray every day. 21% said they pray weekly or monthly. 23% said they do not pray at all or rarely do. People over 65 are more likely to pray than those under 30 with a whopping difference of 65% to 41%.

Fascinating isn't it? Statistics also show that people are more likely to pray in a crisis, then when things are going smoothly. 

As Lent is fast approaching for the Christians around the world, I think it is time for all of us to take an inventory of our daily prayer life. The world is in a sad state of affairs and, quite frankly, I am really sick from the hatred. I am sure that you are too. Prayer brings an inner peace and a centering to people, or at least I find it does with me. If you think that you do not have time in your daily life to pray, think again. I used to pray to and from work. You can do it while exercising (take your earbuds out or get an app with the rosary.) You can do it while doing your dishes or cleaning up after the kids. You can pray standing in line at the supermarket, riding in a cab, bus, subway, during your lunch break. Be creative in finding ways you can incorporate it into your own life. 

At 3:00 P.M. Every day, stop and take 3 seconds to close your eyes and say, "Jesus, I trust in you." (I mean that 3 seconds in the literal sense). I might add that if radical groups are spending more time in prayer than you are, you really may want to reconnect with God and increase your time spent with Him every day. You cannot fight evil intent without the presence of God in your life.

We have some beautiful Catholic and Christian prayers on our Prayer Page if you need some assistance in getting started and learning the prayers. The link is:  https://gloryglorygifts.com/the-prayer-page

Have a beautiful week.

Peace,
Mare

**Statistics are from various Pew Research Center articles.

Earliest painting of Mary?

http://forher.aleteia.org/articles/oldest-picture-of-mary/?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1454834774

I found this on another site and thought it was just amazing. I love art of all types and forms (except for maybe the portraits or figures done in dung) and find some of it quite fascinating. According to Michael Peppard, a theology professor at Fordham University, it is a depiction of Mary during the Annunciation. Check out the article  and see the drawing by visiting the above link. 

Peace!

Mare

Ponder

To ponder what is peace of mind
A concept lost on some
The ebb and flow when thoughts unwind
A stress moratorium

A concept lost on some
too jaded by materialistic goals
A stress moratorium
still fleeting to these driven souls

Too jaded by materialistic goals
Propelled by typhoons, not a breeze
Still fleeting to these driven souls
A life of peace, a mind at ease

Propelled by typhoons, not a breeze
The drive to succeed outweighs the cost
A life of peace, a mind at ease
Succumbing to greed while Eden's lost

The drive to succeed outweighs the cost
Swimming with the sharks in kind
Succumbing to greed while Eden's lost
To ponder what is peace of mind

A pantoum by Marianne E. Hare, copyright 2003
(published - though I'm too lazy to get up and look for the book the poem was printed in)
THE PLATE DEPICTED IS NOT FOR SALE!