Celebrate the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist with family and friends by partaking in one (or more) of these Catholic traditions.

In her book, Offer It Up, Megan Hjelmstad delves into the richness of the Church’s teaching on redemptive suffering. Through practical wisdom, she teaches us simple ways to offer it up.

The start of my devotion to the Blessed Mother Several Mays of my childhood my mother set up a little prayer table with a statue of the Blessed Mother and a candle, and I remember praying a family rosary in the evenings. Now, I can’t tell you that we did this every evening of those Mays, but I do know that this was the beginning of my devotion to the Blessed Mother. Or maybe it was my godmother giving me my first miraculous medal accompanied by a book about Saint Catherine Laboure. Perhaps it began with impatiently praying Our Lady of Perpetual Help devotions after Tuesday morning Mass with my mother in the summer. It also could have been gazing into the crèche on Christmas morning and then trying to make the Fontanini figurine of the Infant Jesus fit into His mother’s arms raised in amazed adoration. Another place could have been praying with my dad’s heartfelt rendition of John Michael Talbot’s “Holy is His Name”—no one plays and sings it quite like my dad. Then there is the cassette tape with Amy Grant’s “Breath of Heaven,” given to my older sister by our younger aunt. I think wherever I was in my childhood, the Blessed Mother was not far away. It was in high school I began my first devotion of praying a daily rosary; I loved the scriptural rosary book. The development of our relationship I hit the hills of Steubenville, settling into my first dorm room of Marian Hall at Franciscan University, with a daily rosary routine in place. Late one evening my first weekend at school an acquaintance I had met in the courtyard walked with me over to the Portiuncula Chapel so that I could pray my rosary. I had developed a rapid-fire style of praying the rosary—the kind one develops when sharing a room with older sisters who want to turn out the light. This friend was quite surprised that night when I popped up from my knees and slipped out of the chapel after seven minutes. He had been expecting a twenty-minute-plus prayer time. This friend is now a monk. But the Blessed Mother was not finished developing my devotion to her—she is still working on it. In the Spring semester I took a class on Mariology and learned all sort of reasons for devotion to the Blessed Mother. After learning that it was necessary in order to properly wear a scapular, I sought out a friar to enroll me in the Brown Scapular. But perhaps the most significant step in my relationship with our Lady was when my newly forming household (Steubenville’s version of sororities/fraternities) decided to do a “total consecration” to the Blessed Mother, following the directions given by Saint Louis de Monfort in A Treatise on the True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin. So, nineteen years ago, without really understanding what it all entailed I pledged myself a “slave” to Mary. Even more than intercession, Mary is a model I am not sure how I would have managed the years since then without her. The following semester she sustained me as I prayed my first 54 Day Rosary Novena for Mark to discern his vocation. I have done many 54-day novenas since then. There have been the countless rosaries prayer on road trips, in labor, through sleepless nights with a baby. And then, further, when I started praying Mother Teresa’s “Flying Novena” of nine Memorares, plus an extra one in thanksgiving for answered prayers, so that my son would fall asleep. But it is more than going to her in prayer. It is learning that she is the model for all of us of how to be a creature towards our Creator. Her yes is the one to imitate. Her fiat should be imitated by us in our every breath, at the moment of our waking, in the face of each duty of our days, and when we go to bed at night. Saint Louis de Montfort wrote that God desired for the Blessed Mother to “reproduce herself” in His people, so that her virtues could be found on earth without her “ceasing to be in heaven.”[i] And while Mary wishes to do God’s will in helping us grow like Him, Saint Louis tells us that it is best for us to consecrate ourselves to her care and seek to imitate her virtues through true devotion to her: True devotion to our Lady is holy; that is to say, it leads the soul to avoid sin, and to imitate in the Blessed Virgin particularly her profound humility, her lively faith, her blind obedience, her continual prayer, her universal mortification, her divine purity, her ardent charity, her heroic patience, her angelic sweetness, and her divine wisdom.[ii]   The more years I have prayed with her virtues, the more I have seen how my holiness is bound to my love and imitation of the Blessed Mother. I have gazed many Sundays on the fresco of the Holy Family in my parish; the Blessed Mother looks on, with sewing in her hands, as Saint Joseph is at work at carpentry and the child Jesus assists him. I always pray for our home life to be like theirs, for the Blessed Mother to help me in my motherhood, wifehood, and commitment to my daily work. The birth of Home: A Study on the Virtues of Mary Thus, last summer, when the book team at Blessed is She decided to put together a book on the ten Marian Virtues as listed by St. Louis de Montfort, I was delighted. A year and a half ago, my dear friend at Blessed is She stepped down from her position as managing editor, moving on to other things. Having worked under her as theological editor editing books for over five years, I stepped up into the role of content editor for Blessed is She. Home: A Blessed Conversations Study on the Virtues of Mary, is the first complete book I midwifed as a head editor. This book, which invites you into the home of the Blessed Mother, consists of twelve chapters, one per virtue plus an introduction and conclusion. Each chapter includes an explanatory narration by Olivia Spears, Scripture for lectio divina, a story written by one of Blessed is She’s writers, questions for reflection by Beth Davis, and a prayer compiled from the Church tradition by me and our copyeditor Sarah Zenter. It is designed for a woman to use on her own or with a small group. The writers of the stories are Mariana Pimiento, Cathy Webb, Megan Hjelmstad, Debra Herbeck, Jana Zuniga Pingel, Michelle Karen D’Silva, Blythe Fike, Sister Maria Fatima, Senite Sahlezghi, and Karen Schultz. The design and layout is by Michelle Slough with artwork by Aubrey Major. The book is a true window into the home of our Lady—a space to spend time with her, to understand her virtues, and to seek to grow in them. I invite anyone who is feeling the draw of the Blessed Mother, to consider reading and praying with this newest Blessed is She study. [i]  Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, A Treatise on the True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, trans. Frederick William Faber (London: Burns and Lambert, 1863), 19. [ii] Saint Louis, True, 72. This post first appeared on Living with Lady Philosophy, a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support her work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. MARY SHOWS US THE WAY Just as a mother might pass on a beloved family tradition to her daughters, Mary shares the recipe for growing in virtue with us. This study on Mary's Virtues will breathe new life into your everyday, beginning right in Mary's home. GET HOME STUDY

A couple of winters ago, I had to give up my annual Christmastime visit with my parents due to various members of my family coming down with the flu a few days into our visit with my in-laws. And that is why I found myself mid-March, solo-parenting, road-tripping, and car-dancing with my four kids down I-39 in Illinois with a mug of fully caffeinated coffee in my cup holder. Until that moment on the interstate, I had lived caffeine-free for nearly four years. But the Encanto soundtrack on repeat was not going to give me the energy and alertness to bring my children safely into port, and I realized that caffeine was a necessity to get us there. About a month after this trip, my caffeine addiction was fully set in. Not only was I groggy until my first cup, but I loved the infusion of energy I got from it and often even drank a second one before the afternoon hit. I felt sad and a little humiliated at my loss of freedom from caffeine. Yet, one day in the car after noon Mass, as I gazed at the sunlight streaking between the buildings of Lowertown St. Paul, I realized that there was a parallel between my physical need for coffee and my spiritual need for grace. Our Weaknesses I had an experience of naturally not needing caffeine to function at my best during the years I lived without it. I had given it up when I was on a restricted diet to overcome Lyme disease and once I was fully recovered, I never felt the need. Naturally, if I was able to get enough sleep, then I would not need it.  In the pre-fallen natural state, we humans did not need sanctifying grace to make good choices. Had our first parents and those who came after never made the choice to disobey God, we could be blissfully living sin-free without God ever having come to earth to die and bring us this grace. But sin did enter the world, and God became Man for us, experiencing our weakness. As the author of Hebrews writes: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help” (Hebrews 4:15-16). God knows what it is like to be tempted and be weak, and He offers us his healing forgiveness and help to overcome our sins. He gives us grace to help us be our true and best selves and overcome our temptations. Coffee does a similar thing for us physically—as it makes up for our failings of not giving ourselves enough time to sleep or for over-packing our days with all the things that must be done. The caffeine gives us an infusion of energy and, at least for me, helps to do it all more cheerfully and well.  It Helps Us Be Little I did not realize until after I was drinking caffeinated coffee again (I never gave up decaf) how much pride I took in living without it. Accepting my dependence on caffeine helped me have more humility in my daily life, and also helped me grow in my humble attitude towards God’s grace. I have seen more and more how I am incapable of doing good without the help of God’s grace, especially in the trying times of my life.  In a letter to her sister, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux talks about how good it is to be little and poor before God:  [W]hat pleases him is to see me love my littleness and my poverty, it is the blind hope that I have in his mercy. [ . . . ] [Y]ou have to agree to remain poor and without strength and that is the difficult thing. [ . . . ] Oh! so let's stay far away from everything that shines, love our littleness, love to feel nothing, then we will be poor in spirit and Jesus will come to get us, however far we are he will transform us into flames of love. (Letter 197) I should love how much I need God’s grace to help me in my littleness more than I love the smell and comfort of a cozy mug of coffee each morning. Saint Thérèse also talks about how she is too small to get to Heaven on her own. Having heard of the invention of the elevator, Saint Thérèse came to the realization that the only way of perfection for someone as little as her was to submit herself entirely to God—to go to Him as a child: I would also like to find an elevator to take me up to Jesus, because I am too small to climb the rough staircase of perfection. So I looked in the holy books for the indication of the elevator, the object of my desire, and I read these words from the mouth of Eternal Wisdom: If someone is very small, let him come to Me. [see Proverbs 9:4] So I came, guessing that I had found what I was looking for and wanting to know, oh my God! what you would do to the little one who would answer your call, I continued my research and here is what I found: - As a mother caresses her child, so I will comfort you, I will carry you on my bosom and I will rock on my knees! [see Isaiah 66:13, 22] Ah! never have more tender, more melodious words come to rejoice my soul, the elevator which must raise me to Heaven, these are your arms, O Jesus! For that I don't need to grow up, on the contrary I have to stay small, to become more and more so. (Story of a Soul, Manuscript C , 02-03) I am too small to always get the rest I need—to climb that staircase of getting into bed and turning out my reading light at a reasonable hour. I am too small to have self-control when my hormones shift at the end of my cycle and cause irritability and grumpiness. But coffee can help me in my mood and fatigue. In a similar way, I am too small—like Saint Thérèse—to climb that staircase of perfection.  Accepting Our Dependence The seventeenth-century French hermit Brother Lawrence wrote, the more we draw close to God, the more we need His grace: The greater the perfection to which a soul aspires, the more dependent is she upon divine grace, and this grace becomes more necessary every moment because without it the soul can do nothing. The world, the flesh and the Devil together wage so fierce and unremitting a war that, without actual grace and a humble reliance thereon, the soul would be dragged down in spite of herself. Such dependence seems hard to human nature, but grace makes it acceptable and a refuge.” (The Practice of the Presence of God, p. 86.) As hapless creatures held in existence by a loving Creator, we often overlook that very fact. We are dependent on Him for everything whether we like it or not, whether we realize it or not. He invites us to be mindful of our need for Him in each and every moment of our day. My reliance on coffee is a reminder for me to rely on God in everything I attempt for His glory. And as Saint Paul points out, His grace is always waiting and will never run dry: “God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

Welcome to our Blessed Chats series! Each month, we will dedicate an entire week of blog posts to a topic that affects many of us. These conversations often come up in our Facebook groups and in our real life friendships. We want to share a variety of perspectives on the topic at hand, so we've asked women to share their stories and how the teachings of the Church have guided and comforted them. In this series, we're talking more about fertility. We'd love for you to join the conversation! On the wall, above our family altar, around which our prayer life centers, is an icon family of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. Saint Thérèse and her three sisters who entered Carmel stand framed each side of the image in their Carmelite habits, while her sister, Servant of God Léonie, stands third in from the right. And in the center are the blessed parents of this family, Saints Louis and Zélie Martin. But the part of the image that always tugs at my heart are the two little ones held close in Saint Zélie’s arms and the two standing at her feet. The Martins lost three babies in infancy and their daughter Helene at the age of five. When I look at Saint Zélie, I never fail to see myself surrounded by my four living children, but I also see and almost feel in my arms the three I never got to hold. The three who passed away and then passed from my body unknown to most of the world, but they are not unknown to God. My Miscarriages My husband and I lost our first baby in 2010 when my eldest was ten months old. We were enthusiastic about having a large Catholic family, my cycles had returned, so we were open to conception. (Full disclosure: I started charting fifteen months before our wedding and have always been a meticulous charter.) But the cycle had a weird ending. The bleeding was not quite right. And I had a strange hunch. My doctor was Catholic and very willing to order a blood test, which showed that there had been a teeny tiny human living inside of me, if only briefly. A little life that flashed into existence, and then passed on to the mercy of God. I only told my best mom-friend and my sister about this first loss. They both had lost babies, and both understood. The Second Loss I managed to have two full-term pregnancies before our second loss. We then had three little girls ages five and under. Sweet little girls with big brown eyes. We lost our second baby during Holy Week in 2014. I scheduled a six-week ultrasound for Holy Thursday, but when we went in, the baby was measuring too small. There was no heartbeat. The nurse did some blood work. The next day, on our way out of the Good Friday liturgy my doctor called from the steps of her church. "I’m so sorry, Susanna,” she said. “Your HCG levels were too low. The baby is no longer alive.” I had been taking progesterone since my pregnancies had gotten more complicated over the years, and I had often needed these supplements. So, I had to wait a week for my progesterone levels to drop from their artificial elevation. And then on Divine Mercy Sunday my bleeding began, bleeding which escalated to hemorrhaging and an ER visit two days later. We named this baby John Paul because of the day I had begun to bleed. I had been able to collect his dear little body from the tissues that had gushed out of me. A local Catholic cemetery provided a small plot as part of their ministry to miscarried babies. And we experienced for the first time the Rite of Burial for Unbaptized Children, filled with prayers of hope in the mercy of God for our child’s salvation. Our pastor drove out to meet us that first time, and he did again three years later when we lost our third baby to miscarriage. The Third Loss I had one more healthy pregnancy after our second loss. My son came into our family, bringing joy and interfering with sleep. When he was two, we felt it was time to be open to a new child again. I was a little nervous, after I had been so overwhelmed by the previous two years with four children. But my husband and I were both excited when the pregnancy test came back positive on October 7, 2017, Our Lady of the Rosary. When I went in for my normal early appointment and to have my progesterone levels checked, I scheduled my first ultrasound for All Saints' Day. For I knew there was a risk of early loss, and wanted the saints to intercede whatever the outcome. When the day finally came, and my symptoms were not as strong as I would have liked. I dutifully came in with a full bladder. But when the tech could not get a good view of the baby, she asked me to go to empty my bladder for a vaginal ultrasound. My heart sank as in the restroom I looked at the toilet paper. Blood. I came back to the connecting room, and tears in my eyes informed my husband of the situation. When the tech came back her scans confirmed our fears. The baby had stopped growing. There was no heartbeat. It felt like a bad dream, and I could not wake up. I got dressed. We were ushered to another room to talk to a doctor about having a third miscarriage. She talked about the battery of tests we would do. And then there was the pain—not the physical pain of cramping, but the pain of loss—the ache of the heart. I don’t even remember the drive home. Grieving as a Family I will never forget the wail of my five-year-old daughter when we told the children of the loss of that baby. I collapsed on the floor and cried with my living babies. My husband and I clung to each other for support. And when the baby came out of me, we named her Léonie, after the Servant of God, and had her buried as well. I will never forget the look of sorrow in compassion in our pastor’s eyes that chilly November afternoon, as he told us of his mother’s multiple miscarriages. He was there accompanying us. [elementor-template id="415212"] Salvation of the Unborn In the months following my third miscarriage, I often went to Saint Zélie for her intercession. I felt a little jealousy in my heart at her certainty of the salvation of her babies who had all been baptized before their untimely deaths. But mine had been lost before they could be baptized. I dug into the theology of what the Church teaches about unbaptized babies who die before receiving the Sacrament. For me, I needed more than the Catechism’s simple statement of “as regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them” (CCC 1261). I knew that we are all conceived with original sin. I also knew that for those baptized before the age of reason, it is not just the parents or godparents that provide the faith necessary for the Sacrament, but the faith of the whole Church. So, could this same faith be available for all children who die without Baptism? The Church seems to hope in that, through the funeral rites and in the entrusting of them to the mercy of God. God is Generous in His Mercy But the thing that really comforted me as a mother and a theologian is the idea Saint Thomas Aquinas had: even though a baby in the womb cannot be baptized, God can still give them sanctifying grace. (ST, III, Q. 68, art. 11) We know from Scripture that He did this for the Blessed Mother at her Immaculate Conception and Saint John the Baptist at the Visitation when he leapt in the womb. And further the Catechism which states that while we as humans have only one way to ensure salvation, God is not restricted in His generous gift of mercy: The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are "reborn of water and the Spirit." God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments. -Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1257 Learning these things theologically helped me have more consolation in the deaths of my unborn children. For, the most important thing I have learned from the example of Saint Zélie is that no matter how long my children live on earth, they have an eternal soul, and their entry into Heaven is more important than any earthly happiness. They Belong to God As my husband and I enter a season of new health for me, we are facing more potential pregnancies. More human lives as a part of our family. But also, the potential for more loss. However we now realize that those babies, however long we have them on earth, do not belong to us. They belong to God. If you want more on the Church's rich teachings on these engaging topics, our best-selling study, "Blessed Conversations: Rooted," dives into the Catechism's teachings and now offers a video companion series along with it featuring Theological Editor Susanna Spencer and Managing Editor Nell O'Leary. Get it here.   [bctt tweet="Blessed Chats: Fertility // Miscarriage #BISblog #blessedchats //" via="no"]

The first people to ask us for a devotional for children were, in fact, our own children. Their sentiments were echoed from the amazing women in our community and in our own hearts. We at Blessed is She desired to offer something to the kids in our lives to help them grow closer to Jesus through His Word, His Saints, His Church, and His example. For this reason, Rise Up was born. Written by 15 Blessed is She writers, Rise Up focuses on 15 virtues with passages from Scripture and the Catechism, relevant quotes from the Saints, and a short reflection written for kids ranging from 8-12 (although we have found our younger kids love it, too!). The Vision Behind Our First Catholic Prayer Book for Kids Nell O'Leary, Blessed is She's Managing Editor, sat down with Susanna Spencer, our Theological Editor and pioneer of Rise Up, to discuss the inspiration behind the book. Susanna, you’re the Theological Editor for Blessed is She. Let’s talk about how you had an idea to write a book on virtues for children. What was the original inspiration behind Rise Up for you? Last year my eldest daughter mentioned to me that she was interested in having a new prayer book for devotional reading. This lead to my idea of collaborating with Blessed is She to create a beautiful prayer book for children, one that is rich in the Catholic tradition of becoming holy through growth in virtue. Further, I wanted to have a book for my children that taught them how to pray by learning to place themselves in God's presence, make an an examination of their daily lives, and then receive inspiration from the Holy Spirit. For whom is this book written? What age range do you think would be well-suited to read it? This book makes the virtues accessible and practical for children ages 8-12 depending on their reading ability. It would be good for any young person interested in growing in holiness! You selected the virtues for the book. Can you tell us what they all are and briefly why you chose them? My first thought in choosing virtues was to write on ones that my own children needed to grow in! While writing it, I realized that I need them as well! The first virtues are the three Theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. I then chose the four main Cardinal virtues prudence, justice, courage/fortitude, and temperance. The other virtues I chose are parts or subvirtues of the Cardinal virtues: gratitude, generosity, obedience, perseverance, patience, humility, studiousness, and honesty. I wanted to pick virtues that children could understand and apply to their daily lives, but also decode the more abstract ones that are more difficult to understand. You collaborated with fifteen of your fellow Blessed is She writers to put this together. Can you talk a little about what you did for each chapter, drafting the introduction to each virtue and then the first reflection and conclusion? My role in Rise Up was to choose the virtues and then explain them to the reader. The book begins with my introduction, which explains what virtue is and how to grow in virtue in general. Each chapter focuses on an individual virtue. I based the introduction for each chapter on Saint Thomas Aquinas' explanation of the virtue in his Summa Theologiae. But I took the language down to the level of a 8 to 12-year-old child. Then comes my favorite part in each chapter. There's a passage from one of the Gospels which demonstrates this virtue, and a reflection on that Scripture leading the reader into imaginative prayer. Fifteen different Blessed is She writers wrote the five middle days of the week for each chapter. These are based on a short Scripture selection or Saint quotation that you picked, Nell! On the final day of the week, I lead the reader to reflect, pray, and make resolutions on how to live this virtue out. I love that the five days in the middle of the chapter are centered around the virtue for the chapter, but also a Saint quote or Scripture selection. What do those quotes mean for the kids reading the book? We chose to give the reader contact with both the Word of God and the words of the Saints. The Word of God was divinely inspired and teaches us how to become like God. Children need to know that it is okay for them to pick up Scripture and read it. The words of the Saints make holiness seem possible as we remember that they, too, are just humans like us. This Catholic prayer book for kids has the Nihil Obstat and the Imprimatur. Can you tell us what that means and a little about what that tells parents about it? We were super excited to get an Imprimatur for this book. The Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat means that a Church official has read over the book at the bishop's request and has declared that nothing in the book contradicts or is opposed to the defined body of Church doctrine or goes against the moral law. As a parent, I look for this on Catholic books for my children. It helps me to know they are reading the Truth. What was one surprise you had in seeing the book altogether? Maybe one thing that gave you great joy? I loved seeing all of the different beautiful voices of my fellow Blessed is She writers. It feels like a huge group act of spiritual maternity for the children of the women that we minister to together. We wrote it for all the children in our lives, in our families, and spiritual families. It is such a gift to be able to do this together! Have you gotten your copy of Rise Up yet?! [bctt tweet="The Vision Behind Our Prayer Book for Kids #BISblog //" via="no"]