Oh Nuts

The First Letter of Saint Clare to Agnes of Prague (1234) Therefore, most beloved sister, or should I say, Lady, worthy of great respect: because You are the spouse and the mother and the sister of my Lord Jesus Christ (cf 2 Cor 11:2, Mt. 12:50) and have been beautifully adorned with the sign of an undefiled virginity and a most holy poverty: Be strengthened in the holy service which you have undertaken out of a burning desire for the poor Crucified, Who for the sake of all of us took upon Himself the Passion of the Cross (Heb 12:2), delivered us from the power of the Prince of Darkness (Col 1:13) to whom we were enslaved because of the disobedience of our first parent, and so reconciled us to God the Father (2 Cor 5:18). O blessed poverty, who bestows eternal riches on those who love and embrace her! O holy poverty, God promises the kingdom of Heaven and in fact, offers eternal glory and a blessed life to those who posses and desire you! O God-centered p

--1-- This week was my spring break. Even though break started off with a round of snow, this week hasn't been that bad. Especially since I consider my spring break to have started on Friday last week, since I am only going two days out of the week.  --2-- To start of my break, on Saturday afternoon, Aaliyah, Rosie, and I went with some of Aaliyah's friends to the movie theater to see "Cinderella." We all loved it. Then in the evening, Amanda, Yavi and I went out to dinner with some friends to celebrate Amanda's birthday. After dinner, since Amanda and two of the friends we went out with hadn't seen it yet,  we decided to go to the movie theater down the street to see "Cinderella." Even though I had just seen the movie I still enjoyed it. --3-- Tomorrow I am going out swing dancing. There is a ballroom about an hour away from where I live and they regularly do swing dancing there and tomorrow is their annual Swinger's B

The Second Letter of  Saint Clare to Agnes of Prague (1235) But with swift pace, light step unswerving feet, so that even your steps stir up no dust, may you go forward securely, joyfully, and swiftly, on the path of prudent happiness, not believing anything, not agreeing with anything that would dissuade you from this resolution or that would place a stumbling block for you on the way, so that you may offer your vows to the Most High in the pursuit of that perfection to which the Spirit of the Lord has called you. For Prayer and Reflection: What are the stumbling blocks that keep you from "going forward securely, joyfully and swiftly?" What passion will you never abandon in your life?

--1-- Even though this week, with the exception of Monday, has been in the 50's and 40's I don't really care because it means that warmer weather is still on it's way and will hopefully be here sometime soon. On Monday it is supposed to be in the upper 40's and snowing. I don't want the snow right now, especially when it is officially spring. But that is one way to start of spring break I guess. --2-- I saw this on Pinterest the other day and thought that it was a really cute idea!!! Especially if you don't know what to give someone for a present. Graduation present I made my best friend... Wooden letter (purchased from Hobby Lobby) covered in wallet pictures.. Modge-Podge wooden letter then cover with pictures, lastly Modge-Podge over pictures with paint  brush..no   sponge :) Write on back as you would a card to utilize space and make it more special! --3-- Another Pinterest find that I found the other day was a link to a blog

I   bind unto myself today The strong Name of the Trinity, By invocation of the same, The Three in One and One in Three. I  bind this day to me for ever. By power of faith, Christ's incarnation; His baptism in the Jordan river; His death on Cross for my salvation; His bursting from the spicèd tomb; His riding up the heavenly way; His coming at the day of doom; I bind unto myself today. I  bind unto myself the power Of the great love of the cherubim; The sweet 'well done' in judgment hour, The service of the seraphim, Confessors' faith, Apostles' word, The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls, All good deeds done unto the Lord, And purity of virgin souls. I  bind unto myself today The virtues of the starlit heaven, The glorious sun's life-giving ray, The whiteness of the moon at even, The flashing of the lightning free, The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks, The stable earth, the deep salt sea, Around the old eternal rocks.

The Fourth Letter of Saint Clare to Agnes of Prague (1253) Gaze upon that mirror each day, O Queen and Spouse of Jesus Christ, and continually study your face within it, that you may adorn yourself within and without beautiful robes, covered, as it is becoming the daughter and most chaste bride of the Most High King, with the flowers and garments of all the virtues. Indeed, blessed poverty, holy humility, and inexpressible charity are reflected in that mirror, as, with the grace of God, you can contemplate them throughout the entire mirror. Then, at the surface of the mirror, consider the holy humility, the blessed poverty, the untold labors and burdens that He endured for the redemption of the whole human race. Then, in the depth of this same mirror, contemplate the ineffable charity that led Him to suffer on the wood of the Cross and to die there the most shameful kind of death. Therefore that mirror, suspended on the wood of the Cross, urged those who passed by to co

--1-- Tuesday was a lot of fun because of the very dense fog. It was really annoying to drive in, especially when I had to deal with an intersection that is near my house. The nice thing was that in town and a decent area around my house were de-fogged on my way home from school. The fog in between was still dense and annoying. Of course the fog decided to stay around until Wednesday morning. But I was fin with the because I didn't have to leave the house until the afternoon. --2-- Besides having fog all day Tuesday and a part of Wednesday, we have been having some really nice weather. It's finally warm out again!!!! Though there is one day so far next week that is in the 40's, but it is still warmer than 0 degrees out which is nice for a change :) --3-- Last week I mentioned that I was going out with Amanda and some of my cousins to celebrate my birthday. It was a lot of fun.  --4-- This weeks inspirational quote :) --5-- The new

This is another snippet of my work in progress that I wrote a while ago. Feel free to let me know if there is anything that needs to be fixed :) Even though the large auditorium was empty, Grace still felt a bit nervous as she stood on the edge of the stage near the curtains. Taking a deep breath she moved away from the curtains and set her bag down on the floor. As she opened up her bag Grace knelt down next to it and took out her pointe shoes. Sitting down on the stage Grace put on her pointe shoes and put her sandals into her bag. Pulling out her IPhone and ear-buds, as she stood up, Grace plugged her ear-buds into her phone. As she walked to the middle of the stage Grace put the ear-buds into her ears and picked out a song from  The Nutcracker . After working on the dance that she had choreographed to the song Grace took a break.

The Third Letter of Saint Clare to Agnes of Prague (1238) Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of glory! Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance! And transform your entire being into the image  of the Godhead itself through contemplation. So that you too may feel what His friends feel as they taste the hidden sweetness that God Himself has reserved from the beginning for those who love Him. And, after all who ensnare their blind lovers in a deceitful and turbulent world have been completely sent away, Who gave Himself totally for your love. For Prayer and Reflection: Clare uses the image of the mirror popular in the spiritual literature of her time. The medieval concept was that one gazed into a mirror to see there what one should become . Does this image speak to you in realizing that as one gazes upon one's truest self, one comes to see the very Image in which one was create

--1-- Since it has been a while I decided to do a 7 Quick Takes post today. I also decided to write this at the lovely hour of 1:00 o'clock in the morning, but that is only because I couldn't sleep. When I got up my original plan was to try and get some homework done, but that didn't happen, because of something called the internet. But that is just life. --2-- I am really loving the current forecast that we have for next week because it is going to be up in the 50's!!!!! Super excited about that, because it means that spring is finally starting to arrive and not hiding anymore.  --3-- Earlier this week I was looking at phone cases and I found this Doctor Who case  on Etsy that I really like. I found this phone case as well and it made me think of Amanda since she owns the most books out of all of us. Then there is the cool LOTR phone case . Of course the adorable Captain America and Thor phone cases are too cute not too share.  --4--

The Second Letter of Saint Clare to Agnes of Prague (1235) Your Spouse, though more beautiful than the children of men, became, for your salvation, the lowest of men, was despised, struck, scourged, untold times throughout His entire body, and then died amid the suffering of the Cross. O most noble Queen, gaze upon [Him] consider [Him] contemplate [Him] as you desire to imitate [Him]. If you suffer with Him, you will reign with Him. [If you] weep [with Him], you shall rejoice with Him; [If you] die with Him on the cross of tribulation, you shall possess heavenly mansions in the splendor of the saints and, in the Book of Life your name shall be called glorious among men. For Prayer and Reflection: What times and places are reserved in your life NOW for "gazing, considering, contemplating," Jesus on the cross? Is this a struggle as you attempt to balance contemplation and ministry? How has your own suffering been a transforming p