EMERGENCY NOVENA REMINDER! I ALMOST FORGOT! I was reminded by a post in a Facebook Group I admin that the Novena to our lady of Lourdes begins today. If you’re somewhere and didn’t realize this until the 3rd of February, that’s OK; the novena will just end on the 11th of February. Here are some …
Continue reading ‘Our Lady of Lourdes Novena Begins Today’ »
This is a story about a Marian feast day, its significance; a saint and what he did with it; and what all this meant for yours truly. Today is February 11th, the 160th anniversary of Our Lady’s apparition to St. Bernadette Soubirous in a grotto near Lourdes, France in 1858. The apparition was significant in …
Continue reading ‘Our Lady of Lourdes/World Day of the Sick’ »
Today, February 11th, is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (Via EWTN.) It is a day deeply connected with healing, as the waters in the grotto at Lourdes, France, has been the site of many healings of an unexplained, and therefore probably miraculous, nature. The EWTN link above has more information. I have in …
The intention of this novena was to focus attention on the healing aspects of Catholicism through a devotion to Mary, the Mother of God. Mary as Our Lady of Lourdes was chosen as she is an obvious recourse for Catholic addicts and alcoholics. She is our primary intercessor with the Trinity, and like any good …
Continue reading ‘Our Lady of Lourdes Novena for Alcoholics: Day 9’ »
Recovery from addictions is quite often referred to as a “path” or “road”. In AA literature there is the often used phrase: “trudging the road of happy destiny.” Many times people fall away or drift off that road. This is a relapse. People relapse for many reasons. Some, like me, relapse early on in recovery. …
Continue reading ‘Our Lady of Lourdes Novena for Alcoholics: Day 8’ »
Yesterday during the sixth day of this novena, I wrote about forgiveness. Today the subject is a related issue, that of resentment. Resentment it is said, means “to feel again”. We alcoholics all understand this. When we resent something we are reliving the event all over, we nurture the emotion and maintain the grudge against …
Continue reading ‘Our Lady of Lourdes Novena for Alcoholics: Day 7’ »
We all bear grudges at one time or another. Someone has wronged us, either by a real infraction or a perceived one, and we are hurt. There is a wound on our psyche and we suffer. The hurt remains and we are tied to the person and the event by this feeling. This is maintained …
Continue reading ‘Our Lady of Lourdes Novena for Alcoholics: Day 6’ »
Patience is a condition that we alcoholics have serious issues with. And these issues can continue well into our sobriety. It seems as if we can never ever fully get rid of the “I want what I want and I want it now” attitude, no matter how much we have worked on developing our sense …
Continue reading ‘Our Lady of Lourdes Novena for Alcoholics: Day 5’ »
Grief. Mourning the death of a loved one and dealing with how to fill the hole created in your life by the loss may be the biggest threat to an alcoholic’s sobriety. The grand theological concepts of Faith such as an afterlife and a possible reunion with the beloved in Heaven only if you both …
Continue reading ‘Our Lady of Lourdes Novena for Alcoholics: Day 4’ »
Depression is another affliction for us alcoholics, especially in early recovery. With our moods swinging wildly from day to to day, and sometimes more quickly, we fall into a state of wondering “will it ever get better?” It becomes easy to lose hope and to wonder whether this sobriety thing is worth it if an …
Continue reading ‘Our Lady of Lourdes Novena for Alcoholics: Day 3’ »