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Here are this week’s must-reads:
+ “We often think that extraordinary service calls for extraordinary circumstances, but sainthood is found in the love of our personal callings. It may not be extraordinary to interact with the people in your home… but consider that the Savior Himself dwells within each of our households, and that to serve them is to serve Him.” — Katie Sciba
+ “The greatest mistake we can make in our spiritual life is to believe that genuine intimacy with God can only exist in a life that is set apart from this world and all its concerns. In this mindset, cloistered monks and nuns are the “chosen people” who can enjoy a life of serenity and delight in God, while the rest of us must continually struggle and be content with little to no experience of God’s presence.
Regardless of one’s vocation, the presence of God is available to everyone at every moment. To experience that presence more intimately one does not have to enter a monastery or a convent. What one must do however, if they wish to encounter God more deeply, is to live more fully in the present moment.” — Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock CFR
Here’s what’s featured in my newsletter, The Collection, this week… This is the last week that you can sign up & access all the Collections I’ve shared in July & August. They’re only available until Saturday, so sign up before then if you’re interested. 🙂 You can sign up here.
Everything featured in my weekly newsletters is always under $60. When you sign up, you get access to a long list of promo codes to some of my favorite Catholic businesses, up to 30% off. Sign up for The Collection here!
+ St. Bernard wrote that whenever the monastic bell rang, the monks were to drop what they were doing and go to whatever they were being called to. It might have been things like work or prayer. When the bells ring, he said to respond immediately. Even if they were doing something important. Even if they didn’t feel like it. We have “bells” like these in our vocation too, don’t we? Things that call us to respond to the next task or person in front of us. Even when we’re doing something important. Even when we don’t feel like it… read the rest here.
+ Yesterday we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Czestachowa. It’s an image and title that is near and dear to me! If you look closely, you’ll see scars on Our Lady’s face. Here’s a reflection about them: “Those three scars have been repaired. Repeatedly. And every time, they reappear. That’s one of the many miracles associated with Our Lady of Czestochowa, and it’s one that reminds me of Mary’s humanity in a very heart-wrenching way.
“How often have I examined my own scars and wondered what good they are? How often have I tried to erase them, to forget them, to deny they exist? And yet, in Our Lady of Czestochowa, I see hope that scars are not the end…” — Sarah Reinhard
+ “In doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary.” — St. Bernard of Clairvaux
+ “Mary uttered (her) fiat in faith. In faith she entrusted herself to God without reserve and devoted herself totally to the Lord…” — St. John Paul II
+ “God clearly chose the Blessed Mother Mary, not only to give birth to His Son, but also to mother Him in a way that only she could. He then, in His generosity, gave her to all of us, to mother us and help us receive the love of God.
God chose Chiara Corbella and Enrico to be parents to the children that they alone could love in such a beautiful way—first, to their biological children; later, to those of us who receive the love of God through their witness and story.
God chooses each one of us to bear fruit and share His love in a unique and unrepeatable way—whether or not we are given physical children to raise.” –– CJ, Springs in the Desert
+ “Faith enables us to bear the thorns with which our life is woven.” — Pier Giorgio Frassati
+ Last week, we celebrated the feast of the Queenship of Mary… St. Louis de Montfort, who had a deep devotion to her, also called her Queen of All Hearts. 
At the same time, I love what St. Therese said about our Blessed Mother: “She is more Mother than Queen.” 
I find that if you don’t relate to one title of Our Lady, you may prefer another… Queen, Mother, Our Lady of Perpetual Help. She doesn’t want your love and reverence for her own sake, but for her Son. She leads us to Him.
Here are the fashion finds in this week’s Collection:
