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Saint Catherine of Bologna

Saint Catherine of Bologna 1413-1463
As a Poor Clare Sister, Saint Catherine has been greatly loved and honored by all Poor Clares. She was a beautiful woman with great lovableness and a charming disposition that won many to her side. As a child she had been educated with the daughter of the marquis of Este, and thus she learned foreign languages, especially Latin, painting and the other arts. Later she would write her own Breviary in latin with beautiful illustrations.

When she was 17 years old, with the consent of her mother, (her father having already died) she joined a group of devout women who were leading a religious life but had not yet adopted a religious rule. After four years, a royal princess founded a convent for their society according to the rule of Saint Clare. Several zealous Poor Clares from Mantua taught them the joy and simplicity of this new way of life.

Saint Catherine was sickly from the time she was twenty-two but she never complained. She performed many duties in the Monastery, from baking bread to training the novices. One of her greatest virtues was that of a peaceful spirit. Focusing always her attention upon her great love of God, her sicknesses and other distractions were kept in check. She obtained many miracles by her great prayer and devotion. On Christmas Eve in 1445 the Blesssed Mother appeared to her and gave her the Child Jesus to hold, and another time Jesus spoke to her from the crucifix in her room. When she died in 1463 there was great distress among all her sisters who greatly loved her. Her body has remained incorrupt and many miracles continue to flow to those devoted to her. She was canonized by Pope Clement IX.

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Quote for the Day:
Satan has in fact a plan against the saints of the Most High which is to wear them out.
What is meant by this phrase, ?wear out?? It has in it the idea of reducing a little this
minute, then reducing a little further the next minute. Reduce a little today, reduce a
little tomorrow. Thus the wearing out is almost imperceptible; nevertheless, it is a
reducing. The wearing down is scarcely an activity of which one is conscious, yet
the end result is that there is nothing left. He will take away your prayer life little by little,
and cause you to trust God less and less and yourself more and more, a little at a time.
He will make you feel somewhat cleverer than before. Step by step, you are misled to
rely more on your own gift, and step by step your heart is enticed away from the Lord.
Now, were Satan to strike the children of God with great force at one time, they would
know exactly how to resist the enemy since they would immediately recognize his work.
He uses the method of gradualism to wear down the people of God.

Watchman Nee

Quote from the book, "101 Inspirational Stories of the Power of Prayer"

Today we had beautiful sunshine... cold....but sunshine. Yeah. Now, its almost eight o'clock and the sun is just spreading across the top of our big maple tree. Almost as if its waving goodbye before night comes.

I am continuing to work on replying to the email requests for the book ( and yes we have reached the1000 limit.. so sorry if you missed it - but the bookkeeper said I absolutely had to quit). Anyway it is a very uplifting thing to do.. because so many say nice things and share thoughts and even prayer requests. Sometimes I get particularly blessed by something someone will include as part of their "signature" or little message at the bottom of their email.

This one I thought was very nice. It's just a thought.. an imagination ...but its nice.

Perhaps they are not stars in the sky...
But rather openings where our loved ones...
Shine down to let us know they are Happy !

Do you like that? I do. It kind of reminds me of one of the stories in the Rosary book when someone was taught by their mother that when the sky was blue.. it was a Hail Mary Sky. Just a little thought trigger to help us remember loved ones or to cheer us up a bit when we are sad and missing someone.

The count down is on for the Presales. Right now you have lots of time.. 20 days... but thought I would just mention it every day.. because .... maybe you are like me... and time goes by much faster than you think!

I have also decided I would offer to autograph books for those who want that. I can only do it through Aunties Bookstore though because that is right here in town.... St. Francis Online Bookstore is in Cincinnati and that's a bit of a trip for signing books! Not sure how many I can do though.... so don't be surprised if I announce that I have reached a limit. Will try and give you a day or two warning if that's going to happen.

http://101prayer.com/autograph.html

Sr Patricia