Melanie Rigney's Blog, page 41

Wednesday’s Woman: Blessed Clare of Rimini

The Basics: Born in 1282 in Italy; died February 10, 1346, in Italy; beatified in 1782 by Pius VI; feast day, February 10. Wife, woman religious.

The Story: So how do you not love a woman whose biographer opened the story with, “This is the life of Blessed Clare of Rimini, who was an example for all flighty women”?

And frivolous Clare was, in her early years. Born into a wealthy family, Clare’s mother died when the child was seven, and her frivolous inclinations were indulged. She was sent in...

Change, Cries, and the Hope of Salvation

Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

We like to be comfortable.

Change is hard for us, whether it comes in the form of relationships, possessions, locations, parishes, positions, habits, or anything else. Whether the change appears to be good or bad, it takes us out of our routine, makes us think

By Philip De Vere (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/......

Wednesday’s Woman: Blessed Marie-Therese de Soubiran La Louviere

The Basics: Born May 16, 1834, France; died June 7, 1889, in France; beatified October 20, 1946, by Pius XII; feast day, June 7. Woman religious.

The Story: From an early age, the girl who would become known as Marie-Therese Soubiran knew God came first in her life. What she could not have known was for how many years He would be her only source of comfort and support.

As a youngster, Marie-Therese desired to be an Carmelite nun, but when she was twenty, she chose instead to live as a beguine...

Remain in Him

Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

And so it begins, a new calendar year, a great time to take stock of where we are and where we desire to be. And whee! With Lent beginning just six weeks from tomorrow, if we mess up now, there’s a fresh opportunity to start over then as well.

For the new year and for Lent, many of us make lists of resolutions and sacrifices and giving, in many...

In 2018, I Want to Be Ready–How About You?

In my family, we select a word for each year. Mine this year is ready–ready for a closer walk with the Lord, ready to move closer to the woman He desires me to be, ready to put aside some actions and behaviors. I’m going to attempt to blog each month about that journey.

What word will guide your 2018? Send me an email with WORD as the subject line. Then in the body, tell me your word–and identify a spiritual resource valued at up to $25 that would help you on your journey. Your resource can b...

Wednesday’s Woman: Blessed Joana of Portugal

The Basics: Born February 6, 1452, in Portugal; died May 12, 1490, in Portugal; beatified in 1693 by Innocent XII. Laywoman; princess.

The Story: Joana spent much of her royal life saying no. The daughter of Portugal’s King Afonso V and his first wife, Isabel, Joana was the heir presumptive upon birth because her older brother had died the year before in infancy. While a younger brother, who would go on to become John II of Portugal, was born three years after Joana, her father was concerned...

Enduring to the End

Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

Why, it was just yesterday we were all warm and fuzzy with the birth of the Christ child. And today, wham! Here we are, fast-forwarded thirty-plus years, to the stoning of Stephen. Sometimes, you just wish the minds that select the lectionary readings could give us all a little down time, don’t you?

Except, of course, there really is no down tim...

Simbang Gabi 2017: And So It Ends… and Begins

What to say about 2017 Simbang Gabi at the neighborhood parish?

Litong, Jandi, and Rachel

That we may have had the biggest crowds ever? Yes. That we had nine days of thoughtful, soul-stirring homilies? Yes. That we had nine days of great food, traditional Filipino and otherwise coordinated by the gentle, always organized Rachel? Yes. That we sang a lot of marvelous music, a good share of it written and performed by Jandi Arboleda, and that every time we sang his “Anima Christi,” I assumed he...

Simbang Gabi 2017: Redemption

We saw Zechariah in the Gospel earlier this week, all querulous about the news the angel Gabriel was bringing. How could Zechariah’s wife be pregnant after all these years? Why should he believe? Gabriel, not thrilled about this reaction, struck Zechariah speechless, saying the old man would be unable to talk until after all the things the angel had promised occurred.

Today, we see Zechariah’s redemption. This time, it’s the neighbors and relatives challenging Elizabeth about the statement th...

Simbang Gabi 2017: Of Generations… and Mercy

My friend Litong started today’s Simbang Gabi Mass with a look back. At the parish’s first Simbang Gabi Mass twenty-one years ago, he said, some women were pregnant. Today, those babies are in college, married, and in some cases like today, lectoring. I smiled; one of the day’s sponsors’ children weren’t even ten when I started going to the Masses. Her husband had died not long before then. Yet she and the children and her extended family were faithful attendees, her children sometimes needin...