Feast Day: Our Lady of Lourdes!

Enough with the snow ... let's party! 

We're on day seven of the Blizzard of 2010 ... no more snow in the forecast for today, but so much on the ground that we're still on snow days.  But that's ok, especially as today is an especially important feast day for me and mine:  the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Dh and I met at a school named Our Lady of Lourdes ... the family has taken two pilgrimages to visit the Shrine in Lourdes, France ... my maternal great-grandfather is from a small village just above Lourdes ... and whenever we really need to pull out the stops for a prayer intention, we often do a novena to Our Lady of Lourdes!

Here is a beautiful prayer which Venerable John Paul the Great prayed before the Grotto in 2004:

Hail Mary, poor and humble Woman, Blessed by the Most High! Virgin of hope, dawn of a new era, We join in your song of praise, to celebrate the Lord’s mercy, to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom and the full liberation of humanity.

Hail Mary, lowly handmaid of the Lord, Glorious Mother of Christ! Faithful Virgin, holy dwelling-place of the Word, Teach us to persevere in listening to the Word, and to be docile to the voice of the Spirit, attentive to his promptings in the depths of our conscience and to his manifestations in the events of history.

Hail Mary, Woman of sorrows, Mother of the living! Virgin spouse beneath the Cross, the new Eve, Be our guide along the paths of the world. Teach us to experience and to spread the love of Christ, to stand with you before the innumerable crosses on which your Son is still crucified.

Hail Mary, woman of faith, First of the disciples! Virgin Mother of the Church, help us always to account for the hope that is in us, with trust in human goodness and the Father’s love. Teach us to build up the world beginning from within: in the depths of silence and prayer, in the joy of fraternal love, in the unique fruitfulness of the Cross.

Holy Mary, Mother of believers, Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Amen.

So, on this snow-day, we'll head to Mass this morning (maybe even get in some Confessions) and we'll make Clafouti tonight.  Clafouti is a wonderful custard/souffle kind of dessert that is made with cherries (which we don't have) so we'll make it with blueberries (which we do have ... and since blue is Our Lady's color, this is more appropriate anyway!).

Holy Mary, Mother of believers, Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!