October, 2009:

November – Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory

by jen.

I apologize if this is a little more disjointed than usual, but I felt called to include this post this week since November starts Sunday. Contrary to popular belief, Halloween is not entirely about candy and costumes . Halloween means All Hallows Eve. Which would make November 1st is All Hallows (or All Saints Day). For those Catholics in the room, it is a Holy Day of Obligation — luckily, it falls on a Sunday this year. And November 2 is All Souls Day and together they kick off the month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

Prayers for the dead, to ease their suffering in purgatory, is just as important as praying for family members and friends who are alive.

The easiest prayer is the prayer of Eternal Rest:

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

This prayer can be directed up for a particular soul or for anyone in purgatory.

In addition, the church provides a different prayer for souls in Purgatory for every day of the week. St. Alphonsis Ligouri has also written a novena for the holy souls in purgatory. Catholic Online has a list of several prayers for those in purgatory.

If you’ve never observed the month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory before, just start by (learning?) praying the Prayer of Eternal Rest daily. It’s short and takes just a minute and you could help relieve the suffering of someone in purgatory.

You can also get a plenary indulgence for a soul in purgatory (i.e. free a soul from purgatory) by participating fully in All Souls Day devotions. You will need to go to confession and receive communion within seven days of attending the church and saying the Our Father, Apostles Creed and the Hail Mary for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. So plan on attending confession, go to church and say a few prayers. For full details, visit Catholic Online and read the introduction & #67.

Do you participate in the month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory? What are your traditions for November? Do you have any great links to stories or ways to enrich your prayer life for November? Leave them in the comments!

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Blog Tour & Review – Swiss Courier

Oct 30th, 2009

by jen.

3 comments

The Swiss Courier, by Tricia Goyer & Mike Yorkey, is a spell-binding, page-turning historical novel set in Switzerland during World War II. After an attempt on Hitler’s life, the Gestapo steps up efforts to elimate possible enemies. In their search, they zero in on a German scientist who is working on the atomic bomb for Germany. What follows is a story of the fate of the the scientist and those that risk their lives to get him out of the country before the Gestapo can get to him.

This book was FANTABULOUS! When I picked it up, I was really not in the mood for fiction, especially fiction that made me think! It was not long before this book sucked me in and I went from reluctantly reading it to picking it up and ignoring my family (luckily, I read fast ).

I loved this book and recommend it to everyone! There’s a bit of romance for the ladies and war, heroes & espionage for the guys. You could even give this books to teens! It’s well-written and avoids the graphic descriptions of the atrocities of war while whetting the appetite to learn more.

About the Authors

Tricia Goyer is the author of several books, including Night Song and Dawn of a Thousand Nights, both past winners of the ACFW’s Book of the Year Award for Long Historical Romance. Goyer lives with her family in Montana. To find out more visit her website: www.triciagoyer.com

Mike Yorkey is the author or coauthor of dozens of books, including the bestselling Every Man’s Battle series. Married to a Swiss native, Yorkey lived in Switzerland for 18 months. He and his family currently reside in California.To find out more visit his website: www.MikeYorkey.com

Want to hear them talk about Swiss Courier? Listen to their interview on Blog Talk Radio!

If this book sound like something you’d like to add to your library, you can win one of 5 signed copies & some swiss chocolate by tweeting: The Swiss Courier by @triciagoyer fast paced and suspenseful! Don’t miss out! http://tr.im/Ahjs RT #swisscourier

Find out what others had to say about this book–visit the other stops on the blog tour!

This book was provided for review by LitFuse Publicity.

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Rite-Aid Deal – What can YOU get for $2.40?

Oct 29th, 2009

by jen.

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I hadn’t planned on posting today, but I scored BIG at Rite Aid yesterday and wanted to post so that you could still take advantage of it. I got everything pictured above for $2.40 (not including the tax).

Here are the details:

2 Halls Breezers Throat Lozenges – $2.69 each – a BOGO Q from flier (up to $2.49) = 2.89 for both

2 Trident Layers gum – $1.49 each – a BOGO Q from flier = $1.49 for both

Vaseline Intensive Care Sheer Intensity Lotion – on sale for $4.99 – $1.50/1 printable here – $4.00 SCR = $0.51 MM

St. Ives Apricot Scrub – on sale $3.99 – $3.00 SCR = $0.99 (there was a $1/1 in the 9/20 SS insert, but I don’t do that anymore)

2 2-packs of GE Soft Light light bulbs – on sale 2/$2 – $2.00 SCR = FREE!

Kotex Maxi Pads – on sale $2.99 – $1/1 coupon from sample (you can also use $1/1 printable here) – $2.00 SCR = $0.01 MM

Huggies Supreme Diapers – Jumbo Pack – on sale for $9.99 – $3/1 Q from mailer (you can also use $3/1 printable here according to Money Saving Mom )- $3.00 SCR – $0.75 Caregivers Marketplace rebate = $3.24

PLUS a $5/$25 Rite Aid coupon from Coupons.com (available on the right hand side of my website).

If I had stopped here, my total would have been $3.09. BUT I also got a bunch of coupons from them in the August Oral Care rebate offer that gave me this, too:

1 20-oz bottle of water – on sale 2/$1 – free Q that rang up at $0.99 = $0.49 MM

Reusable Rite Aid Shopping Bag – $0.99 – free Q = FREE!

pack of Trident Gum – $1.29 – free Q that rang up at $1.49 = $0.20 MM

Centra Vite – 130 Count – $7.99 – free Q = FREE!

My total (not including tax) – $2.40 for everything pictured above, INCLUDING the bag!

Did you get any great deals?

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30-Day Giving Challenge

Oct 28th, 2009

by jen.

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I first heard about the 30-Day Giving Challenge on Twitter from @mommysnacks. @KingdomFirstMom is hosting it and essentially, the idea is that you write down everytime you feel called to give or do more than you would otherwise do or WANT to do. Also keep track of all that you RECEIVE! Odds are, you will be immeasurably rewarded for your generosity. At the very least, it will foster a sense of gratitude.

You can give big or small; whatever you are called or are able to do. My goals? To give more of myself. I’m finding myself spending lots of time online again, dorking around and neglecting my family. At the VERY least I need to set guidelines & think of stuff to do in this cold, boring time of year.

I am going to start on Lil Bit’s homeschool materials. While this might sound like more busy work on my part, it’s more of ideas and guidance for quality playtime with her. I will also try to come up with evening ideas for things we can do as a family. Anyone have ideas for fun, indoor things to do with someone less than 2 when they are your only?

I’m also going to try to spend more time and attention with Bones in ways meaningful to HIM. Monetarily, we don’t have a ton of extra, but we can probably squeeze out a little more than we do. I’ve fallen off my donation/offering wagon and need to get back on it. I’m going to take better care to get the easy free or nearly free items that I can get with coupons and give them to my church’s food pantry. I would also like to catch up by making some generous contributions to some of our pet charities.

Giving more Works for Me! Find out what works for others at We Are THAT Family.

Want to join in? Go to Kingdom First Mom’s blog to join in the challenge.

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What’s on YOUR Nightstand? – Oct. 09

Oct 27th, 2009

by jen.

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Well, I got to these items on my list from last month:

Art of Disappearing

Gee, I didn’t realize I’d adjusted my plan quite so drastically! Lest you think I didn’t read ANYTHING last month, I did add these:

O2 (LitFuse)
Swiss Courier (LitFuse) – review will be posted Friday

I had to push back Be Holy because, well, I lost it when I went to the ER a few weeks back, I think. I have to look around more. The rest I pushed out to next month to make way for the blog tours I participated in.

I did get to add Free-Range Kids just for fun and ADORED it. I’ll tell you more about that when I get some free time .

Next month, I’m hoping to read and review the following books:

Simple Acts of Moving Forward (Loyola Press)
2010: Grace-Filled Days (Loyola Press)
Letters to Darcy (Tyndale)
Plain Promise (Thomas Nelson)

I have a whole stack of cool looking books that I’m hoping to add in, but I’m not going to count on it. I’m going to be starting “homeschooling” Lil Bit. I put it in quotes because, well, she’s under two and it’s more of ideas for play than anything else .

Find out what everyone else is up to every 4th Tuesday at 5 Minutes for Books!

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