Tuesday, May 21, 2013

What they see

I vividly remember certain visual aspects of my own childhood.  My mother had a plaque that hung by our green rotary dial phone that read, "When a day is hemmed in by prayer, it is less likely to unravel."  Her friend, Helen Schmitt, gave it to her.  If you open any of her kitchen cupboards, you will most likely be startled as she has an unusual collection of pictures of male saints plastered inside every cupboard. Padre Pio gets me everytime in the cereal cupboard when I am home visiting.  I remember all these spiritual tokens fondly and wonder what my children will remember when they are older.  I wanted to blog about this in case they were ever trying to remember certain statues, quotes, or images when they are older.

 I saw this quote before we were married at the McNeely household.  St. John Vianney said these magnificent words that I have imprinted on my soul and finally made into wall words.  This is above our kitchen sink.
 The view in front of our sink.  I should tally how many times I stand in front of our sink.  I am there so much I figured this should be my little home altar.  The large statue of St. John Bosco was given to me by John before we were married.  I have always loved him most because he loved young children so much and truly saw them as God sees them.  Out of all the parenting books and styles I have read, my choice of styles is by far his.  He saw goodness in every soul that came to him.  
 I just bought this last week at Adoremus bookstore.  My mother loves St. Maximillian Kolbe and I also get teary-eyed when I think of his great love for souls.  This was perfect for me as this is one of my top five favorite scripture passages.  To me, it is the perfect motherhood motto.

 The beauty of the Blessed Mother's face on this card reminded me of my own sweet Rose and her sweet face especially with the inscription on the bottom.
 My mom sent this little strip to me when we lived in Oklahoma and Lillie was very sick.  I taped it below the window and often think how funny it is that this little piece of paper made the journey from Oklahoma back to Nebraska.  It is getting worn and tattered, but it reminds me of my mother.
 Msgr. Fucinaro gave this to John and I for a wedding present.  It is a first class relic of St. Anne.  Anne is my middle name so the relic is extra special. 

I have several friends who are mega-godmothers.  They remember every important day in their godchildren's lives.  I wish I could remember to do that every year, but I do pray for each one of them every day, numerous times a day especially when I am standing at the kitchen sink.  

12 comments :

  1. I love the idea of keeping your godchildren's names over your sink to remember to pray for them! I'm borrowing this :-) I totally understand what you mean about images we remember from our childhood. My mohter had a picture of the Sacred Heart in the living room that was visable e very time you went up or down the main stairs, and I found myself saying,"hi, Jesus" on a regular basis, always keeping Him in my mind.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm sure your kids will love to look back on this someday. Funny thing- my husband designed that St. Maximilian plaque. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is such a beautiful idea! I am going to do something similar to my sink area tomorrow!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can never think of your house without thinking of the "This is my path to heaven" over the sink. I love that!

    I have assorted scripture passages and prayers posted inside cabinets or on mirrors around the house. I think I'll add my godchildren's names a couple key places as well. Good thinking!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What lovely ideas! Such a holy little area, like your own spot in the chapel :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you for sharing these ideas! I love St. John Bosco as well!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love it! What a gorgeous little homme altar!

    ReplyDelete
  8. i am definitely going to copy you on the god children frame. thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the godchildren idea too!

    ReplyDelete
  10. My mom always had some small statues of Mary, St Anthony and Jesus and some holy cards propped on the windowsill over her sink. I love that, but my sink doesn't have a window, only a shelf in my face that must be used to store cookbooks. I love the idea of pasting prayer cards inside cabinet doors, though. I think I'll have to get working on that.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love your ideas. I have saint quotes taped all over the inside of my cupboards, but i would see themselves often if I put them on the wall. I need a 'home altar' to remind me of the goodness of my job as mom. Thank you for the inspiration and ideas!

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a lovely post! I love your blog.

    One quick correction- under one of the pictures you said "The beauty of the Blessed Mother's face on this card reminded me of my own sweet Rose and her sweet face especially with the inscription on the bottom." However the inscription at the bottom says Sancta Rosa, which of course means Saint Rose. So the card is actually an image of St. Rose, not of the Blessed Mother. It was probably just a typo. =)

    ReplyDelete