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Prayers, Quips and Quotes: Presentation of Mary, Feast Day Nov. 21




Presentation of Mary
Presentation of Mary

The feast day of the Presentation of Mary is celebrated on November 21.

 

The feast day of the Presentation of Mary originated in Jerusalem in 543. The story appears in the Protoevangelium of James which is an extra biblical document. St. Joachim and St. Anne, the parents of Mary, in gratitude for having a child after many years of infertility, presented Mary to God at the temple in Jerusalem when she was three years old.

The feast day emphasizes the purity of Mary from the moment her life began. Mary is considered a temple in which God dwells in a special way.

The feast day also remembers all the people who have dedicated themselves to God in a contemplative order.

 

Through Thee…the faithful have received baptism;

churches have been erected in all parts of the earth.

By Thine assistance the Gentiles have been brought to repentance.

And finally through Thee, the only Son of God, source of light,

has shone upon the eyes of the blind,

who were sitting in the shadow of death.

Quote of St. Cyril of Jerusalem; Feast day September 18

 

November is the Month of the Holy Souls

 

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Finding Serenity




serenity-prayer

 

I try to make the serenity prayer a daily prayer. Often, it helps me to get through the most difficult moments of my life. When life is out of control, this prayer reminds me that I am not supposed to be in control of everything, only God is! I am a very visual person. When I say a prayer I often have pictures to meditate on in my mind. One day as I was praying the serenity prayer I realized my definition of serenity was wrong!

I have always considered serenity as complete calm. While praying this prayer I was picturing a calm lake on a sunny day. It was so calm there were no whitecaps on the water. It was so calm if I was on a sailboat, I would not be able to sail due to lack of wind. I was stuck! This is not serenity! We need movement in our lives! Without progress we stagnate and then we seem to go backwards or become lost.

When I am the opposite of serene, I am frantic and in a panic. This frame of mind makes it impossible to make rational decisions. I finally realized that serenity is being able to make decisions while we are in the eye of a storm! While I prefer a sunny day on the lake, I always want there to be a breeze so the sailboat I am in will actually go where I direct it.

Serenity is being calm enough during the storm to know which ropes to pull to keep the boat from turning over!

Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change
Courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time,
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace
Taking, as He did, this world as it is,
Not as I would have it.

Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His will.
That I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with Him,
Forever in the next.

(Reinhold Neibuhr, 1926)

 

Help me make good decisions Lord. Direct my life!

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