Baptism Day!

The Baptism went beautifully. Words cannot describe how blessed I feel right now, not only due to the event, but also because of the wonderful support of my friends and family - whether they were there in person, or in spirit. I am going to brag a bit, I love the outfit we bought him. He looks like a little Pope!

It began with the procession in which the Sign of the Cross was traced on his forehead by Fr. A, and then we walked to each pew and the parishioners (spiritual Aunts and Uncles, if you will) did the same. It was such a wonderful communion.

Today's Gospel matched beautifully. If I may share:

Mark 7:31-37

Again Jesus left the district of Tyre
and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,
into the district of the Decapolis.
And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment
and begged him to lay his hand on him.
He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!”— that is, “Be opened!” — And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.
He ordered them not to tell anyone.
But the more he ordered them not to,
the more they proclaimed it.
They were exceedingly astonished and they said,
“He has done all things well.
He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

The bold emphasis (which I added), is one of the parts of a Catholic Baptism, called the Ephphatha.

The priest takes a little spittle and touches the ears and nostrils of the candidate with it. For health reasons, the use of spittle may be omitted. This rite comes from Mark 7:33-35, when Jesus healed the deaf-mute:

Priest: Ephpheta, that is to say, Be opened, for an odour of sweetness. Be thou, devil, begone; for the judgement of God shall draw near.

Xave was very quiet during the whole ceremony. I can't tell you how many times Fr. A remarked that he was an amazingly quiet baby (and how blessed we are to have said quiet baby)!

We are also blessed to have wonderful Godparents for Xavier. You might recognize the Godmother, as she was the one whom I took pictures for her baby's Baptism just a month ago! The Godfather is in his first year of Seminary to study to become a Priest - please keep him in your prayers! They both wrote beautiful letters to Xavier.

From the Godmother

Dear Xavier,

Welcome to the family of the Catholic Church, a family that will give you the love, support, and courage you need on your earthy journey to Heaven. As your Godmother, I'm here to help you and your parents in any way as part of that journey. Remember to stay strong in your faith and always diligent in your prayers to lead you on the path to Heaven. Know that you are in my prayers.

God bless,

B

From the Godfather:

Dear Xavier Thomas,

My dear Godson, it's such a pleasure that you are finally here!! I was thrilled ten months ago to hear of your expected arrival, as I am thrilled on the eve of your baptism. I wish for you a life filled with a great faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church. Please know that you will be in my daily thoughts and prayers and know that if there is any way I can help you, get in touch whenever. Always honor your parents and your Lord and our Lady and you will enjoy a life of fulfillment!

With prayers, I remain yours ever, with much , much love.

C

I am overwhelmed with so many emotions - but don't worry, they're all positive!

By the way, The Husband put up some extra pictures on our Catholic blog if you'd like to see them!

Let's get sick!

It's as if my body sees events coming ahead and goes "Hey, let's get sick, shall we?!" The past two days I've been dealing with a terrible stomach bug and a nasty headache...oh, and Xave's baptism is tomorrow. Great.

On the positive side of things, I think I'm over the worst of it, and am on the mend now. I'm hoping to be all better by tomorrow...but we shall see.

The Husband's parents are coming up tomorrow from the occasion, which I find exceedingly nice because 1) it's a 3.5 hour drive and 2) they aren't Catholic. For them to now share our religious views, and yet still drive 7 hours in a day really shows me how much they care about our family.

Hopefully, I'll be posting pictures tomorrow (barring they come out well) - Xave has become such a chubber~!

A Baptism!

Not ours of course (he's still not here yet!), but my husband and I's friends Jesse and Bekah's.

Attending Raphael's Baptism was wonderful but it made me want my own baby right now! My husband and I were joking on the long drive home that it would be wonderful if I went into labor tonight...it's not likely but we're so ready!

I took a lot of photos with my D60, and a few turned out well I think. It really made me realize how badly I want a good zoom lens for it, but that's going to have to wait...a while...


My husband (patiently) put the car seat in our little Corolla after we got back...I'm pretty sure everything's in place, I just need my baby!

Day 2 and (some of) Day 3

Hm...so I think these posts are only going to become more abbreviated...

Yesterday we had dinner at 26 Seats. I've had better French food before, but it was okay, and if you take the price into consideration it was AMAZING.

Since we were in SoHo, we walked around the area and I bought a dress for myself (for my post-maternity days) at a cute little shop.

After trekking around SoHo, we headed back to Times Square (to have a look at it at night) and then intended to stop at a wine bar before calling it a day. Instead, we got side tracked and decided to look at the lobby of the Empire State Building, and then got side tracked again into buying tickets to go to the top.

We were in line for 3 hours...at 10:30pm... The worst part was the fact that you'd stand in line, for say security, and you'd think, "Oh, now we get to go to the top!" Nope. You stand in another line and get sold a map. Then you turn the corner and stand in a line to get on the elevator. Then you stand in a line to get on to a different elevator. We must have stood in at least 10 different lines before getting to the top.

However, the view was breathtaking...I'm not sure if it was worth $40 and 3 hours of my life, and painfully sore feet, but I'm not upset that we did it.

This morning, we went to Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral - the largest in the United States. We went to the 10:30 am Mass, and Arch Bishop Timothy Dolan did the Mass (and I took Holy Eucharist from him)! He is the most prominent Bishop in the entire United States...coupling this with the EXTREME beauty of the Cathedral made it a very overwhelming experience. We are planning on going back tomorrow to take better pictures, since there were so many Masses and people there, I thought that it'd be easier that way, not to mention their gift shop was closed. Plus, since it's right in the awesome part of Fifth Avenue, I'm hoping to spend some time shopping in Saks as well. :D

We then went to Chinatown, and subsequently Little Italy. We had Vietnamese for lunch, and also a piece of pizza for a snack. The Vietnamese was amazing - such different flavors from your run of the mill Asian food. The Pizza was very good, but nothing TOO special...Then again, how special can standard NY style pizza be?

We're going to roam Manhattan tonight and look for some good food - I think we'll do dinner in Little Italy tomorrow (since we already had Pizza today).

Tumult.

A friend and I were commenting (via Facebook) on how the word 'tumult' is so fabulous, yet, when it is present in our lives, leans more on the unenjoyable side of things.

Things are very hectic and stressful for us right now, but I have faith that "this too shall pass"...as cliché as it may be.

Last Saturday's trip to Pittsburgh was wonderful. Here are some highlights:

First, my husband and I were remarking that Pittsburgh is either exceedingly ugly and depressing or a very beautiful city. This stark contrast is entirely contingent on that day's weather. Most generally speaking, it is the former as Pittsburgh gets a lot of rainy, overcast, and most generally dreary days. However, we managed stumble upon an elusive "pretty day"!

One of the highlights of Pittsburgh is it's entry into the city. I compiled this .gif animation (why hello 1992!) from the pictures I took trying to show how very cool it is.


So basically, you're in a real rural part of Pittsburgh with nothing but greenery (and highway) around you) and suddenly you POP! into the city. I have always been amazed by this, and continue to be. I can't wait to show this to my kids...I just might have to sit in the back seat with them to see their expression better!

We parked downtown (a couple blocks from the Cathedral of Learning on the Pitt campus) and then hurried off to the Pittsburgh Cathedral so my husband could go to confession. Interestingly enough, there was a wedding going on simultaneously. The wedding had 3 Priests, and the Bishop of the Pittsburgh diocese presiding! I was curious what kind of clout the family had to arrange that.

Beautiful Organ!

Tabernacle Baptismal Font

The Main Altar

On this side, a wedding!

To the right, confession!

We then walked a few more blocks away to Phipps. We remarked on how much more fun the conservatory was for us because we had a fancy camera...to say it kept us entertained would be an understatement! The food at the cafe was very good as well...my husband had some falafel (yuck!) and I ate a mushroom quesadilla...homemade sea salt chips weren't anything to complain about either!

There was a mom with about 5 kids (varying in ages from about 6 to 16) that was in front of us, and was walking back to their parking garage in the same direction when we left. Here's vague transcription of the dialogue that she began:

Woman: "You look so cute!!"
Me: (Laughing) "Thank you, very much!"
Woman: "You're having a boy, right?"
Me: "Yup!"
Small girl with Woman: "How did you know she was having a boy?!"
Woman: "You see how small her butt is honey, but how it looks like there's a basketball under her dress? That's how I knew for certain it was a boy!"

Oh how amusing my husband and I found this to be.

I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day. I approximated that we walked close to five miles after all was said and done.

Yesterday, was my first birth class. We went with another couple (friends of ours) and we all felt generally the same. Most generally, it was a rehash of everything we've read, but it's kind of relieving to know I can ask questions about pregnancy/giving birth if you need to. You can't really ask a book a question and just having that option open alleviates a lot of pressure and stress. Oh, and birth is disgusting and looks exceedingly uncomfortable. None of us were fans of the "birth video". All of us wanted to run to the bathroom. I don't care how you sugar coat it, birth is not pretty/attractive/heart warming. The baby is all of these things...but birth is most assuredly not.

I'm starting to get third trimester ailments now...I'm getting increasingly tired (again), my digestive system is all out of whack (again), and my stomach is getting sore (again). My friend told me she read in one of her books that "everything you suffered from in the first trimester, expect it again in the third...only worse". This is appearing to be rather true. In regards to digestion, I'm trying to force myself to eat smaller, but more frequent, meals. This is harder for me to do than I had expected...I have a rather gluttonous appetite unfortunately. I may be small, but I LOVE TO EAT. I'm going to make a post about my love of food later...

Divine Mercy Sunday

Today, is Divine Mercy Sunday. In celebration of this, our co-parish had Saint Faustina's cousin, Sr. Paulette Honeygosky. It was a very wonderful getting to hear her speak not only in regards to her cousin, but about the importance of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy as well.

As a side note, it was a pleasant surprise that we started with Eucharist Adoration, and then Sr. Paulette spoke. My husband and I discussed that this is probably due to the fact that Fr. Kawecki likes things being done with a liturgical basis - something we are both very grateful for.

I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the love and mercy of Christ as well. The following verses are all from the morning prayer in the Magnificat (a shorter form of the Liturgy of the Hours in a sense) from last Thursday.

"Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!" - Mark 6:50
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been similarly tested in every way, yet without sin." - Hebrews 4:15
"I will never take back my love; my truth will never fail." - Psalms 89:34

Having done the Novena of Divine Mercy has greatly increased my awareness of Christ's mercy. Due to numerous factors (including the time I spent in an ultra-conservative Protestant denomination) I feel that I had become so fearful of God that I could not experience the type of intimacy with Him that is really necessary for full faith. However, via the novena I believe I have become much closer to understanding the Divine Mercy (and Love) of Christ. I think the three verses I quoted above help to encompass what I had been missing in my shortsightedness.

The verse from Mark reminds me that I do not need to be afraid of the constant presence of God, but rather to hold him in a worshiping fashion, not out of fear, but out of love.

The verse from Hebrews makes me recall that when I sin that God understands the types of temptation that await us. Thus, he has a comprehension of how weak the body can be and why we would do anything against His Will.

Psalms tells me that the Love of God is something I can never lose - no matter how bad things can get.

This may seem very elementary (and I think I would agree that it is) but it has been a great hurdle for me over the past year - much more so than the more common stumbling block of understanding why there is suffering in the world. I am very grateful for my continuing spiritual growth, and hope to continue down this path.

Jesus, I trust in you!

Happy Easter!

To say that Holy Week was busy would be an understatement - but that is not to say that it was not enjoyable. I wish that I could have posted more about the different events that we attended at the time - but regardless, Happy Easter!

Here is my husband and I wearing our Easter outfits - he begrudgingly pose for the photo. To say that finding something to accommodate my new found girth was hard would be a grave understatement. I think we must have went to at least five different stores, some even specializing in maternity clothes, and ended up finding a dress in the Junior's section of Elder Beerman of all things.

A quick recap of the past week:
Holy Thursday:
*The Chrism Mass was very nice, and it was also the first time I got to see our diocese's Cathedral. I was very happy to hear that there are 6 seminarians in our diocese now, and that this year applicants to seminary has doubled!
*The Mass for Holy Thursday went well, but I ended up not being an altar server. Another girl was there from our co-parish, so I bowed out. Too many cooks stirring the pot is not helpful.
*The bus afterward was a very interesting and moving experience as well, and my husband as already written a little about it.

Good Friday:
*Good Friday's Mass and the subsequent start of the Novena to Saint Faustina was wonderful. After the Novena, those participating venerated the portrait of Divine Mercy. Did you know that this was supposed to be done every Divine Mercy Sunday (this upcoming Sunday)?

Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil:
*In regards to the blessing of the Easter Baskets, this is absolutely a tradition I would like to start with my family next year! I think that I will fill it with all of the traditional Polish foods as well. Please read about Święconka! It's quite fascinating if you've never been around Polish Catholics!
*Easter Vigil was a wonderful experience - as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred (which is a good thing in my book). It as late when we got out (11:15) but that's not to say that I didn't hop over to the rectory to quickly grab a roll, a bite of ham, and a section of kielbasa! (I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but all Holy Week I abstained from meat so I was quite ecstatic!)

In other news, the pregnancy has continued to go very smoothly, although I have found that getting my bladder kicked is not the most enjoyable thing to have occur to you - especially when it's in the middle of the night and your in a nice cozy bed.

April Snow Showers

Yesterday, I was not a very happy camper. Instead of being a nice temperate 55 or 60 some degrees outside, it was a quite miserable 28 with snow. In of itself it's rather unpleasant, but coupled with my lack of a winter maternity wardrobe (since it wasn't until a few weeks ago I had to migrate out of my normal attire) it was especially taxing on my pleasantries.

Due to Holy Week and Easter Triduum my husband and I have been - and will be - very very busy this week. (Note: Our Parish, Saint Hubert, shares a priest with Saint Cyril & Methodious so events are split up between the two.)

Tomorrow is Holy Thursday, so there is a Chrism Mass in the morning at our Cathedral in Greensburg, PA we will be attending and later that night there will be Holy Thursday Mass at Saint Hubert's, where I will be serving as an altar server. After the mass, there is a bus going to several different parishes in the dioceses to take time to venerate the Blessed Sacrement.

Good Friday's Mass is at Saint Cyril & Methodious, but that afternoon at Saint Hubert's we are starting the Novena of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I am especially excited about this since if I have a girl I am naming her Faustina. (Also, at the culmination of this Novena, Saint Faustina's cousin is coming to speak to us at Saint Hubert's!)

Saturday is practice for the RCIA candidates at Saint Cyril & Methodious, which my husband and I were invited to attend, as he is going to be involved with Saint Hubert's RCIA program next year. There is also going to be a blessing of Easter Baskets, which is something I was not even aware of since I grew up with mostly Irish and Italian Roman Catholics - not Polish Catholics. Saturday, is also (of course) the Easter Vigil Mass at Saint Hubert's! I am very happy to know that we will be doing all 9 readings (I am doing reading 4, and my husband is doing reading 5). There will also be two baptisms, one youth confirmation, and three RCIA confirmations! AFTER Easter Vigil Mass, everyone is going to the rectory to eat...so, dinner will be around 11:30pm. :P

I am going to assume that I will not be able to blog very much in the coming days - thank goodness my husband and I have the job flexibility to take off the remainder of this week to focus!

One more picture of the snow. This was from our drive from Morgantown to Fairchance yesterday.