Novena: thank you St. Angela!

As I mentioned in a post a couple of weeks ago, our dear friend Karen asked us to pray a novena to St. Angela Merici for her intercessions on helping Karen attain her goal of wiping out her financial debt so that she can enter the Dominicans in August. 

Yesterday, Karen was notified that St. Angela had pulled through for her and the grant from Mater Ecclesia came thru -- Karen is now 51% of her way through with fund-raising. 

If you have a minute please pray a prayer of thanksgiving to St. Angela; also it would be wonderful if you could take a minute and send up a prayer that Karen's fund-raising efforts continue successfully so that she may follow God's call to become a Dominican Sister of St. Cecilia!

Feast Day: St. Angela Merici

St. Angela Merici (1474-1540) probably best known as the founder of the Ursulines, opened two schools for the education of girls and was a third-order Franciscan.  Orphaned at the age of ten, St. Angela saw that the girls of that age were not being educated.  In 1535, she brought together a group of women (under the name, Company of St. Ursula) who remedied this iliteracy by creating schools, although St. Angela preferred to send her associates to teach girls in their own families since one of her favorite sayings was,

Disorder in society is the result of disorder in the family.

It was by educating children in theplace where they lived that she tried to effect an improvement in social conditions. St. Angela created a new way of teaching but change was handled gently as shown by this quote:  Beware of trying to accomplish anything by force, for God has given every single person free will and desires to constrain none; he merely shows them the way, invites them and counsels them.

St. Angela Merici, pray for us!

Novena: please pray this lovely prayer with us ...

... for a dear friend, Karen Mahowald, who is discerning a vocation to the Dominican Sisters of Nashville.  Karen is trying to enter this August, but needs to clear her student-loan debt before being accepted.  She has asked for our prayers to help her in this endeavor.

Here is the novena to St. Angela Merici, which we will start on Tuesday, Jan 19th and finish on Wednesday, Jan 27th (St. Angela's feast day):

Novena to Saint Angela Merici

January 19th to January 27th (Ending on St. Angela's Feast Day)

Saint Angela, you chose Karen as she prepared for her Confirmation, please watch over her now as she prepares to enter religious life. You instructed the young women of your time to live and grow in charity. Pray that Karen will receive a grant from Mater Ecclesiae. Please intercede not only for Karen's material needs but also her spiritual ones. Pray that Karen will be impelled always by charity and zeal for souls.


Lord, may Saint Angela commend us to Your mercy; may her charity and wisdom help us to be faithful to Your teaching and to follow it in our lives. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen

Pray one Our Father, One Hail Mary and One Glory Be in honor of Saint Angela; end the novena prayer with St. Angela, Pray for us.