Gianna's Name Day

Today we celebrated Gianna's Name Day. Over the past few years we've made more of an effort to remember each of the kids' name days, the feast day of their patron saint. While it's not always something over the top or monumental, we try to make it special in some way. We make the child feel special and remind them of the qualities that make their saint significant.

Of course, Gianna is a little young to understand her name day. When she's older, we'll share with her why St. Gianna is so near and dear to us and is the perfect patron for her. What Gianna does understand is that today we had cake and that was enough reason for her to celebrate.

It also means that she is pretty much 'Queen for the Day' and enables her to get a horseback ride on her brother's back. She squealed with delight and didn't want to get off (although it's hard to see that in this photo). The perfect ending to her day.

I am certain that our little Gianna is already reaping the rewards of being watched over by her namesake. I know I certainly call on her for help as a mother and protector of my children. And when Gianna's busy toddler days wipe me out, I bring out the big guns and I ask St. Gianna for the extra help. She's easily become my favorite saint to which I owe so very much, that's for sure.

You can read more about St. Gianna by clicking here.


St. Gianna, Pray For Us!

Pilgrims On A Journey

When we became pregnant after four years, sustained the pregnancy and gave birth to a perfect and precious little girl, we were grateful beyond all telling.

Prior to Gianna's pregnancy, Reed and I sought the intercession of St. Gianna. You may remember our encounter with her and the pilgrimage we took two years ago to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin. During Gianna's pregnancy we continued to seek St. Gianna's guidance both for ourselves and also for my physician as we went through a few rough patches along the way. We knew that a return trip, a pilgrimage of thanksgiving, needed to be made to the Shrine.

When we surprisingly were blessed again and found out this summer that a new little one will be joining the family, it became evident that we indeed needed to express our gratitude. We made plans to make the trip as a family and also invited my parents again (they went along last time) and also my in-laws this time too (they had not been there before).

Last week we ventured out for a few days to enjoy our summertime trip. Everything went off without a hitch. The weather cooperated, the kids had good behavior, Gianna endured the lengthy van ride and all of the other additions to the trip (besides the Shrine itself) were perfect.

I thought I'd catch up and share some photos for those of you who may not have been to the La Crosse area or the Shrine.

Along the way we had to make a pit stop and chose a small town named Zumbrota, which also happened to be the home of the only original covered bridge left in Minnesota.



The next morning we headed to the Shrine to spend most of the day. The weather was overcast, so it helped keep the temps. down and we were able to enjoy all of the walking around the grounds.





The beautiful Votive Chapel where I had them light a candle for 30 days for my readers' intentions.




Lily with her patron, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks.


A sculpture of St. Joseph the Workman, along with Cardinal Burke and the couple who donated the land for the shrine.


At the top of the hill sits the church, memorial for the unborn, stations of the cross and rosary walk. It is so serene and beautiful to behold.






As last time, I had to get a photo by the painting of St. Gianna. Except this time, I was holding my 'Gianna baby' (as babies conceived through the intercession of St. Gianna are called) and my hidden baby too.


Our trip included many of the same stops as last time, including lunch at the shrine restaurant,Culina Mariana. I cannot rave about their food enough! I was eager to once again dine there because I enjoyed it so much last time. Again, they did not disappoint. If you ever visit the shrine, you've got to stop there for a meal.

We also made another stop at Rudy's Drive-In where you eat in your vehicle and the waitresses come out on rollerskates. The kids requested we go there again this time because they loved it so much last time. A good meal for your buck too!!

Before heading out of La Crosse, we visited the Children's Museum again too and let the kids run around. Or in Gianna's case, enjoy the many sights and sounds from the stroller.




Along the route home we stopped in Pepin, Wisconsin at an ice cream shop and the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum (it's the town of her birth).




We also made an overnight stop in Red Wing, Minnesota where the Red Wing boot factory is located. It's also the home of the world's largest boot, which we stopped to see.


What an enjoyable and memorable trip to share with both sets of grandparents and our family. It was a lot of fun and I think everyone had a really good time. These last photos were taken near the end of the trip. See? The kids still are in good moods!







*More information on the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe can be found on their website.

My Favorite Saint

Tomorrow is the feast day of one of my favorite women, St. Gianna Beretta Molla. I think there are many reasons to fall in love with her example and life, but there are several reasons I have been drawn to her over the last couple years:

~she's a physician (and we know how many of those I have been seeing lately, so I can pray for their guidance to St. Gianna)

~she's a modern-day saint, having lived from 1922-1962

~she is a relatively 'new' saint, having been canonized in 2004

~she was a wife and mother

~I had this experience with her last summer


To read more about St. Gianna's life and story, read the Vatican's biography or more over at her official website.

There's even a coloring page for the kiddos over here.


Prayer to St. Gianna

Saint Gianna, heroically Christlike
wife, mother and physician,
I ask the help of your prayers,
as I strive to follow your holy example
in my physical and spiritual trials.
Help me, by your prayers, to recognize
the suffering of the Cross as the way to
pure and selfless love of God
and my neighbor.

Saint Gianna, pray for us always
that we may have a heart,
meek and courageous,
like the Heart of Jesus,
in Whom we find our
healing and strength.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

~Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke~

Pilgrimage: Part II

Click here to read Part I

We planned on finding the Children's Museum upon our arrival in La Crosse. I wouldn't have even known about the museum, had I not read an article earlier this year in Faith & Family magazine where they listed 'Must See' Shrines along with family friendly nearby attractions.(Sorry, I can't get the direct link to that exact article for you) We were able to locate the museum with ease, but our time there was limited due to our later-than-planned arrival. It was fine though since we still had well over an hour to explore. It ended up being the ideal place for the kids to run around after the long van ride and since we were that late in the afternoon, there were less than 10 other children there at the time. At only $5 a person for admission, it was well worth the fun. We enjoyed the Shadow Room in particular. And yes, by 'we' I mean mostly us adults! It was a hoot!

While in La Crosse, our accommodations were at Best Western Midway. It was on the opposite side of town from the Shrine, but still convenient with lots of places to obtain food when needed. We chose this hotel due to their rates (we could get discounted rates with my parents' AARP card) and that they had a kiddie pool. Nothing was extraordinary about our stay, but everything was sufficient and the rooms all have refrigerators and it provided us a nice place to sleep and that was about all we were looking for.

Friday, we spent the day at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We were blessed with ideal weather; overcast, but still warm enough and just a light rain shower in the afternoon. I'm glad I had my walking shoes on, as we did a lot of walking and it is a journey from the Pilgrim Center to the Shrine Church. The trek makes you feel like you really are on pilgrimage as you meander through the leafy woods with periodic grotto's along the way and your stop at the Votive Candle Chapel. To say that the entire scene is beautiful and breath-taking is barely enough. Such sweet peace and serenity we felt at that holy place. We planned our arrival so that we would be sure to make it to the eleven o'clock daily Mass there at the church. It was precious to be able to participate at Mass with such inspiring surroundings. Everywhere you looked there were sacred paintings and statues, faux marble and gold, simplicity and yet grandeur at every turn. So much for the eye to behold.

After Mass we meandered throughout the area upon the hill by the church and walked the Rosary Walk and Stations of the Cross, before returning to the Pilgrim Center once again. After a little shopping at Flores Mariae Gift Shop, we went for a late lunch break to the on-site restaurant, Culina Mariana. Lily & Jonah shared a kids portion of spaghetti and meat sauce and it tasted like authentic Italian family food. I devoured my Chicken Pesto sandwich and was so disappointed when it was all gone!Oh.so.delicious.

Lastly, just before leaving the Shrine for the day, we had this encounter with St. Gianna.

That evening, we opted to try Rudy's Drive-In for supper. It was so much fun! The girls there still deliver your food on roller skates and we sat in our van and enjoyed some REALLY good food that was most economical for all six of us! Highly recommended it!

Was this trip well worth it? OH YES! There wasn't any part of it that I would have done differently, everything went so smoothly. With all of the little things we did and saw, combined with the main reason for this trip, the Shrine, it was so worth it. A treasured family vacation memory. Will we do it again? OH YES!

(How was that for a post full of Linky's? Sorry. I just wanted you to be able to click on over with ease. Hope this helps in the event that any of you are close enough to the area and planning a little pilgrimage.)

Unexpected Saintly Encounter

We've returned home from our quick trip to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Unfortunately, the next few days will be hectic as I prepare meals for our local Vocations Camp and that may leave me with little time to share about our trip. Of course, I'm assuming you'd want to hear about it. I think it will have to be shared in installments, so please bear with me.

The trip was SO WORTH IT! And even that, is an understatement my friends. I was hoping for a bit of a spiritual renewal and this pilgrimage delivered that and so much more. The whole trip was really a lot of fun and had so many great aspects about it that were just perfect(okay, maybe the longer-than-expected drive had it's ups and downs). With that said, I must say that there was one thing that happened that was a unique and rare moment that was the highlight of the trip for all of us. Well, maybe not so much for Lily and Jonah since they didn't grasp how blessed of an opportunity it truly was. I tell this story all for the greater glory of God and as witness to His marvelous deeds.

We arrived at the Shrine shortly after it opened on Friday morning and stayed just about until closing time in the late afternoon. I will share more of what we did, but for now I will just jump ahead to the late afternoon shortly before we departed. We were doing some shopping in their gift shop (you know, we had to fulfill our Catholic duty and ring up enough purchases to put a pretty good dent on our Discover card) and my mom was busy having a conversation with one of the ladies (Patricia) working in the shop. Shortly after, my mom came to notify me that the Shrine had obtained a Second-Class relic of St. Gianna's, a pair of her gloves. These are kept in a special safe in a reliquary at the Shrine, but only one man knows how to get into it and he was out of town. She also informed me that another lady worker was on the phone trying to get in touch with him to see if he would allow them to bring the gloves out and walk her through getting the safe unlocked. They were getting the gloves out for ME!

My mom had shared with the ladies 'our story' and our struggle to conceive again and bear more children and that I have a devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Gianna. She told them how we had even debated about changing the date of our visit and postpone two weeks in order to be present at the Shrine's First Anniversary celebration where Gianna's son will speak and be present. Upon hearing that we drove some distance and would not be returning in two weeks, these dear ladies were willing to move Heaven and earth so that I could in some way be in contact with St. Gianna!

We patiently waited and while we did, Patricia encouraged us to gather up items that we would like to lay on Gianna's gloves in order that they become Third-Class Relics. I asked for a St. Gianna medal, but unfortunately they had not yet arrived since they were scheduled to be available at the anniversary celebration. She then led me to a medal that had been specifically created for the Shrine, the Medal of Motherhood. It is a 4-way cross and in the center is Our Lady of Guadalupe, the top is St. Gianna, the right side is Guardian Angel (since a child is given one at the moment of conception), the left side is St. Gerard and the bottom of the cross is St. Anne. My eyes filled with tears and Reed agreed that it would be perfect. We were informed that we would be allowed to go in a back room to sit and pray while in the presence of Gianna's gloves. Patricia reminded us that if it is God's holy will that we be blessed again with children, Gianna would intercede on our behalf and it would happen very quickly. She has had so many miracles that have already been attributed to her and many a 'Gianna baby' that has been brought into this world through her intercession.

Minutes later, the relic had been obtained and we were led to the quiet room. The ladies gathered chairs around the reliquary and we were given instructions. They allowed us as much time as we needed and asked us to just let them know when we were finished. Take all the time we wanted. We were told that we could touch the gloves and lay our articles on them and lift the glass cover open to do so, but we couldn't take them out or put them on. I must say that at that time I was so utterly speechless and in awe that I was just honored enough to be touching them and could scarcely believe that I was allowed to do that much!

I cannot completely remember all that followed. I don't know how long we were in that simple solitude. I do know that we prayed from the depths of our hearts, mostly in silence and I recall the sweet peace and serenity that filled my mind and body. It may just have been one of the most blessed moments of my life and definitely one of the most surrendered ones during this long journey through subfertility. I lay my hands upon those gloves and prayed intently for a speedy answer to our heartfelt prayers, if that is the will of God. And I prayed a prayer for each of you who follow me or read here on this blog, that your prayers would also be answered.

I am still unable to grasp the opportunity that we were given that day. It wasn't a small piece of clothing of St. Gianna's that we touched, but two WHOLE pieces of her clothing. A simple pair of gloves that any of us would wear. White, precious gloves. I may never get the chance to lay my eyes upon such holy relics again. I cannot begin to relay to you the sweetness in the very air I breathed as I touched those gloves. I now wear the medal I received there and I will treasure it and the significance it has to me. It was in that moment that my hopeful heart was again renewed and brought back to life. A simple instant that will be a treasured memory.

And if it is God's will that our prayers be answered, St. Gianna will be there running to our aid to fulfill it. And if that happens, we will gladly be returning to that blessed Shrine with our 'Gianna baby' next year.

O Holy St. Gianna, Pray For Us!


The reliquary with my items placed on the gloves:
(Sorry for the clarity issue, this is my best photo due to the low-light in the room and no flash allowed. This one turned out better than the ones with the glass cover open)