Introduce Yourself

Hello friend,

I have some regular followers and have had many visitors stop by.  I'm interested in who is reading my blog and why.  Please answer the questions below or just tell me a little about yourself, I've given a rather long answer to each of these questions myself....you needn't go to such extremes, short answers are totally okay....long answers are okay too. If you have any prayer requests let me know and I will add you to my daily morning prayer.

Also, if you know anyone who is in need of encouragement and support for fallen-away friends and family members send them my way, I plan on adding things I've learned and implemented in my daily life to help these poor unfortunate souls.

1. Spiritual journey: religious beliefs then? Religious beliefs now?
2. Where are you from?
3. What is one book that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)?
4. Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What's your favorite part of each day?
5. If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what's your URL? What do you write about?

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I found this link over at Conversion Diary called Introduce Yourself.  I thought the questions contained therein would make a nice blog post on my page so here goes.

1. Spiritual journey: religious beliefs then? Religious beliefs now? Hello, my name is Patty and I'm a Catholic....(sounds strangely like an introduction at a 12 step meeting), there IS a story behind that....for a later date. I was raised Methodist, I converted to Catholicism (the fullness of Christianity) in 1985. It wasn't so much that my beliefs changed, it was more like I realized the beliefs I had were Catholic. Of course once I converted, my beliefs and understanding of who God is and who I am in relation to Him began to grow and develop into this never-ending and awesomely deep Faith. I'm truly in love.

2. Where are you from? I am a born-again Hoosier (LOL)...truly, many think of us as a bit..let's say backward, and some of us are I suppose, but not all or most. I have lived all my life in or near Indianapolis. I grew up behind the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and spent Memorial Day weekend with immediate and visiting family on our roof watching the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race...The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. It was great fun and I have lots of good memories of this time.

3. What is one book that has had a great impact on your life (other than the Bible)? This one is a challenge. I am a book-lover, having an entire wall in my living room with bookcases full of books. I'm sorry but I have absolutely no choice but to list 4 books here. The first and most important book is A Mother's Rule of Life: How to Bring Order to Your Home and Peace to Your Soul, by Holly Pierlot.  After living a number of years as an on-call 24/7 Nursing Supervisor, everything about my personal life had turned into complete disarray. This book more than anything else has helped me jump-start or turbo-charge my striving to follow Jesus; as He says "You...must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Using the definition from Donald Attwater, ed., A Catholic Dictionary (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1943), 399; Perfection is "union with God, which is possible in this world, consisting in and proportional to the degree of charity possessed and exercised...When a [person] loves God with his whole heart, soul, mind and strength, and his neighbor as himself for God's sake, then he is perfect." Holly Pierlot's book has helped me recognize and prioritize my life into the 5 areas of prayer, person, partner, parent and provider; to strive for and, God willing achieve the perfection to which I have been called. I have developed a Rule of Life based on the traditional Christian tool for ordering one's vocation, found most often in religious community life.

Reading A Mother's Rule of Life led to my reading The ANTI-Alzheimer's Prescription; by Vincent Fortanasce, M.D. I recommend this book for anyone who suffers from an inflammatory disease, i.e. arthritis, fibromyalgia or in my case lupus. Here again is a book focusing on the whole person (wholistic). Dr. Fortanasce gives a science-proven plan to help delay and or prevent Alzheimer's and other inflammatory diseases, by planning in the four areas of food consumption, physical exercise, mental exercise and finally; stress reduction, through quality sleep and spiritual health. He also points out many suffering from these inflammatory diseases have sleep apnea.

The next 2 books feed my soul and bring me to an intimacy with God like no other book(s) I've found. Divine Intimacy, by Father Gabriel of Saint Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., is a goldmine of inspirational thoughts and spiritual meditations from those who lived heroic virtue, to help the soul enter more deeply into the treasures of the Truth of the Faith; so that ones thinking and acting might become transformed and unity or Divine Intimacy might be achieved. I have a series about this book on my blog.

Finally, Christian Prayer (what I have) or the 4-volume Liturgy of the Hours. This as most Catholics will know is the Prayer of the Church, flowing from the Jewish practice of the daily recitation of the Psalms. This devotion consists mostly of the Psalms and other scripture readings and has given me a much deeper understanding of the Mystical Body of Christ and the Communion of Saints as well as my responsibility and commitment to Jesus and His Church as a Catholic Christian. I will be writing more about all of these books on my blog in the future.

4. Tell me a little bit about your daily life: what is a typical day like for you? What's your favorite part of each day? All of my home activities Monday - Thursday (for the most part) occur in the morning. Prayer, reading, blogging and catching up on news and e-mail begin my day. Then I head to the Office for Pro-Life Ministry for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, where I spend the remainder of the day focused on my role as Administrative Assistant and my activities surrounding pro-life and pro-family; and the pro-life ministry within the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Although I am paid a small salary as an employee I view this position as a ministerial vocation; somewhat of an extension to the pro-life and pro-family ministry my husband and I had been doing prior to my being employed by the Office for Pro-Life Ministry. I am truly blessed to have this vocation and doubly so as I am frequently able to attend Mass in the Chapel. Friday through Sunday begin basically the same; however, I use this time to focus on my responsibilities at home and my vocation as wife and when possible mom and grammy to my grown children and grandchildren. The favorite part of my day is spent with God, whether that be at Mass or in adoration; or meditation and prayer spent in my prayer room at home.

5. If you have a blog, feel free to indulge in a little shameless self-promotion: what's your URL?
My blog is St. Monica's Tears and is found at http://stmonicastears.blogspot.com

What do you write about? This blog has two purposes. The first is to share my journey of continuing conversion toward the peace and joy that is found in knowing, loving and serving the Truth which is Christ Jesus and subsists fully within His Catholic Church. The second is to share the pain, sorrow and tears for my sons who have fallen away from the True Faith of Jesus Christ and to encourage and support others who carry this same heavy cross. And so I write about things Catholic!