I Have an Angelic Question

St. Michael Archangel Catholic Church in Miguel Auza, Zac. Mexico.
Copyright Pedro Aguilar. That's my big brother to y'all.

The feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael has always been of interest to me. My older brother (who passed away before I was born) would've celebrated his birthday tomorrow. Growing up, Mom used to say that he was a little angel looking out for me since he died when he was 11 months old and therefore had committed no sins. I always remember him and the angels today and tomorrow.

After my father died, the day became more interesting because St. Michael the Archangel was his patron. I think I still have the picture of St. Michael that hung in front of his bed towards the end of his life. The paternal side of family comes from a town named Miguel Auza, Zacatecas in Mexico. (fun fact: I've been able to trace the family lineage to that town as far as the 1700s.) The town was founded today and was originally named after, surprise, St. Michael the Archangel by a Spanish captain. The name was later renamed Miguel Auza during the time of the Cristero War / anti-Catholicism. Still, to this day they celebrate the feast of St. Michael in a big way. I've never personally experienced it (we always visited during the summer) but Dad used to share stories of how gorgeous the celebrations were. I hope to experience this for myself one day.

I've personally had St. Michael (thanks to my dad) and St. Raphael on my prayer intentions call list several times. I love the novena to St. Raphael, which ended yesterday. Of course, having been sick since my reversion a decade ago, St. Raphael is an old chum of mine. ;) I wish I could say that I knew more about St. Gabriel but I don't. I remember him during the first decade of the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary but, besides that, I don't go to him for any intercessions. I should look up what he's the patron of.

After my car accident almost a year ago (on October 13; the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun) made me even more curious about angels and archangels. You'll have to read the blog post for that day to find out why. ;) I've been doing the chaplet of St. Michael Archangel (as well as the prayer to St. Michael) on an almost daily basis for a long time but I haven't really read much about the angels. We sort of touched on it when I was at JP Catholic but it wasn't enough for me. I feel like there's still a lot that I need to learn.

I think there are a lot misconceptions about angels so I really want to learn from legitimate sources... and today seems like a good day to start that research. I already have a small booklet on St. Raphael (which I'll be re-reading today) but I want to learn about angels from a more theological and philosophical POV. Oh, I'm sorry, is my wannabe lay Dominican side showing? ;) Does anyone have any recommendations for websites, books, audiobooks, podcasts, etc which would help me for the research I want to do? Thanks for the suggestions in advance.

Anyway, I just wanted to ask while I took a study break. I don't think I'm going to do anything big for today's feast day (I didn't get a chance to prepare this year) but I know Michaelmas celebrations are a thing and I hope to learn for next year. :D

I hope y'all are having a great week thus far. :D

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

7 Quick Takes Vol. 18: Blogging Break, Novenas, and More.

-- 1 --

Sorry for the blogging break. I've been really busy with school (of course) so I don't have a lot of free time. The free time I do have is spent on Twitter because it's easier to catch up with friends individually and I don't spend a whole lot of time on it (unless there's a futbol match). I may take the entire month of July off from blogging because it's my last full month of summer term classes and I have 5 finals to study for before the end of the month. I'm not sure yet... I'll keep y'all posted.

-- 2 --

I've been a novena machine lately. Yesterday was the last day of the Sacred Heart novena and today is the last day of the Undoer of Knots novena I'm doing with a friend. I'm also on Day Three of the Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati novena and today starts the St. Maria Goretti novena. Trust me, people have needed novenas lately and I'm happy to oblige when asked to pray for them.

-- 3 -- 

I had spiritual direction this morning, which was a fantastic start of my day! I'm so sad I woke up too late for Mass but I got up for SD and then I spent some time in front of the tabernacle. I've had a lot to be thankful for lately (even though the past week has been one bad thing after another) so I wanted to spend some time with Jesus.

-- 4 --

School's... there. lol. I didn't do too great on my last Anatomy exam because I literally blanked out on on everything that I had studied. I had transportation issues that morning (I left the house 40 minutes later than I should have... and it wasn't my fault; I was ready at 7:30 am, half an hour before the time scheduled). Traffic was a nightmare and I got to my proctored exam 20 minutes late. I think all of that sort of got to me and I blanked out during the exam, which stinks. Thankfully, I aced the last one and if I can ace the next/last two, I'll be okay in terms of final grade. I just really need to work hard... and possibly do another Holy Spirit novena. lol. Other classes are going great. :D

-- 5 -- 

It seems like almost everyone had a terrible week this past week. I'm not sure why but hugs to everyone. I had a pretty tough last 9 days... well, 8 because today's been pretty good so far. I could say it was novena related but I'm not going to use that excuse. The important thing to remember is that (and I quote Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables) "... tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet..." Everyone do me a favor and do one simple pleasure, per day, for the rest of the week (Friday through Sunday). If that means taking a nap, eating a bowl of ice cream, watching an episode of your favorite show... whatever it is, do one thing per day. We all deserve it after the week we've had.

-- 6 --

I have a bone to pick with everyone who voted for St. Raphael the Archangel as my patron for the year. lol. It seems I've been in proposal/wedding planning mode (not for me, lol), break-up mode (not for me), and dishing a lot of advice lately. It's kind of odd because I don't have a ton of experience in that area but I still get asked. It's very interesting. I was hoping for more travel this year but I guess this year will be spent trying to help others with their love lives. Thanks, y'all. lol. ;)

-- 7 --

I had the biggest crush on Gene Kelly years ago and this number always makes me smile. I had nothing else to add to these 7 quick takes so here's something that I hope makes some of y'all smile. By the way, did you know Gene Kelly had a fever of 101 while making this scene? Yes, seriously. I try to remind myself of that every time I have a fever. Also, I do not own the video and youtube said the person had a standard license so... do not sue me, people. 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

That's it for now. I need to go pick mom up from work and then clean my messy room (which is rare for me; I like things clean) before finishing my coursework for the week. Ah, the life of a student.

I hope y'all are doing well!

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

7 Quick Takes Vol. 13: New Year's Edition

-- 1 --

Happy New Year to all you lovely blog readers. I took the first two days of the year to relax before I dove back into writing. It was lovely but I needed to write again. Anyway, I hope you all had a good time ringing in the new year... though, from what I saw on my Twitter and Instagram feeds, it looks like most of us just stayed at home this NYE. Nothing wrong with that! This homebody approves. ;)

-- 2 --

I've been trying to catch up on reading because I will soon head back to school. Okay, May isn't "soon" but it is getting closer. Stoked! Anyway, I've been reading a mix of children's literature (in the form of Pixie Hollow books; it's research for an upcoming project), finishing the Narnia series, reading my friend Nancy's His Good Opinion novel (Janeites will enjoy it!), and I just borrowed a book on the letters between St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal. I'm very excited about this book because I've been feeling particularly close to both these saints lately. Let's see how much reading I can get in between now and May 4th.

-- 3 --

Can I just say how awesome the Mary Undoer of Knots novena is? I had a long standing (read: almost 5 years) issue bugging me and I've noticed that the "knots" are slowly being undone. All those things that went wrong while I did the novena were so worth the peace and joy I am currently experiencing.

-- 4 -- 

When y'all voted for St. Raphael the Archangel as this year's patron saint I was curious as to why. He'd never won before. Now I've see why; I've spent January 1st through today giving relationship advice as well as being forced to take a good look at my own personal life. I wonder how many more people will need novenas to St. Raphael throughout the year. ;)

-- 5 --

I have some things I want to write about but I want to have material so no spoilers from me. I looks like January will be quite the prolific writing month... if time allows me to publish them all relatively close to each other.

-- 6 --

This is why I love tumblr; a priest, a rabbi...

-- 7 --

And, because this is the "New Year's Edition"... I don't have resolutions (I don't like making them) but here are my goals for this year:
- More swing dancing.
- More traveling.
- Learn more recipes.
- Learn how to knit.
- Attend daily Mass (or at least spend 20 minutes in silent prayer in front of the tabernacle daily).
- Spend less time online.
- Learn to balance school and prayer life.

And that's all for now. Quick. Easy. No spoilers. ;) Okay, fine, I want to get back to reading. lol.

I hope you all have a great weekend (I may blog tomorrow; fingers crossed)!

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

And the Patron Saint for 2014 Is...

St. Raphael the Archangel

Y'all chosen St. Raphael the Archangel as this blog's patron for 2014... as well as the saint some of you apparently want me to pray for when y'all have prayer requests. Interesting. ;) Thank y'all for your votes. I hope that St. Raphael the Archangel will help bring us all closer to God in the upcoming year.

And if you're wondering how the votes ended up being distributed, this was the final result:

Now, if y'all will excuse me... I have two days (today and tomorrow) to do my annual clean-a-thon; I lost yesterday because I was sick in bed. Seriously, I slept 19 hours and couldn't even keep water down for the first 16 hours of the day. Please pray that the worse is behind me. :)

I shall be back tomorrow for my annual end of year post. ;)

As always, thanks for reading and God bless. :D

Scary Dream, Catholic Podcasts, and Let the Planning Begin!

Honestly, not much went on today. I had a finance meeting (oh yeah, I'm getting into taking care of business) which went alright. I'm a bit worried about money issues because my family's been living paycheck-to-paycheck lately and I have to take care of some big expenses. Chaotic but it's good for me to start dealing with these things again because it makes me feel like I did before I got sick. YAY!

One not so good thing -- I had one of the scariest dreams this morning. I woke up saying "Ave Maria Purisima" which roughly means to "Hail Mary, the Purest" in Spanish. It's something one says, in Mexican culture at least, when you get a sense of something evil. My dream was pretty intense, I was actually fighting with the devil (which isn't the first time I've dreamt it) because he was tempting to into doing something completely immoral but my will was too strong for him. Then I felt this strong wind trying to pull me into darkest. As soon as that happened, I started naming saints to help me. I started calling "St. Teresa of Avila... St. Jude Thaddeus... St. Michael Archangel... St. Raphael Archangel..." as soon as I remembered to call on Our Blessed Mother, I woke up... and said Ave Maria Purisima. It's completely scary. Every time I've had dreams that I'm fighting against evil, I've always won... like that time my house was surrounded by darkness and I took a white stone/light in my hands and make the darkness disappear. I believe I wrote an entry about that a few months back. Still, it's scary to dream and I will definitely talk to a priest about this.

Moving onto something nicer... I've been catching up on this awesome Catholic podcast called The Hands and Feet Show. I love that the show is VERY relatable to young people -- especially us in our late teens and 20s. They aren't afraid to tackle any issues, no matter how taboo or controversial, while keeping everything faith related. I definitely recommend it to anyone who doesn't shy away from any topic. You can check them out here (http://sqpn.com/category/talkshows/hands-and-feet/) They're part of SQPN which has a slew of awesome Catholic Podcasts. Definitely recommend all of 'em -- all of Fr. Roderick's podcasts, Rosary Army, the Saint Cast, etc. And, speaking of Fr. Roderick, he's in Rome this week and he's already done a podcast there. It sounds like Rome would be my kind of place... as soon as I get over my anxiety.

We've got it all planned -- as soon as my therapist gives me the thumbs up for traveling to big, crowded cities (that I haven't been to before), I'm visiting them. :D I already have my list of cities (mostly in Europe)... and, to be honest, it's more of me checking them out because I fully intend on living out there in about a year or so. Well, in France or another country in Europe. The idea of living in France popped into my head a few weeks ago. I already understand and speak a tiny bit of French so I need to really learn the basics but otherwise, I'm intrigued. I also heard that someone that doesn't completely repulse me (which is my way of saying "you rock, you big nerd!" hahahaha!) wanted to go and live there I thought "Dude, then let's go!" We always seem to want to end up in the same place at the same time without telling each other. I'm always surprised and think he's reading my mind. If it's not being in New York at the same time (we're both kinda tired and done with NYC now), it's being somewhere else. So, now I'm going to plan -- for myself -- to move out to one of the cities on my list and I won't tell anyone until I'm there... and we'll see what happens. I'm excited though. The planning aspect is awesome. It does mean I will have to learn about 4 different languages ('cause I haven't decided where I want to go) but I'm excited! The travel bug has bitten me again. YES! lol.

Alright, well, I have pretty exhausted -- don't know why -- so it's about time I call it a day. As usual, thanks for reading and God Bless.
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