As the flower petals fall, new flowers take their turn and bloom.  So is life.  Each season has its own beauty.   Many of us fail to appreciate the passing of time as we are busily toiling away.   I read it somewhere that the more screen time, the more depression.   Let’s not waste the day!  Let’s go out and have the sun on our faces and listen to the rustling sounds on the wind moving the leaves and the birds chirping.  And just maybe we can hear the voice of God in our hearts. Happy you dropped by! Send me a note below and make the wo ..read more

Hey there! Through the years I've designed some FREEBIES for papemelroti that I know you will all enjoy.  Here are some links that I have compiled. see FREEBIE see FREEBIE see FREEBIE see FREEBIE see FREEBIE see FREEBIE Happy you dropped by! Send me a note below and make the world a bit friendlier ..read more

The stories we uncovered in Kyoto must be told. This is the reason why I made a short 7-minute video from our trip there.   It's a story of courage and indomitable faith.  I hope you will take time to know about their sacrifice and on your next visit to Japan, you'll know that the very ground holds sacred remains of the saints. As a reference, here are the Kyoto sites where you can visit and learn about the Japan Christian martyrs.  We were not able to visit them all. Genna Christian place of martyrdom  Kamo River ?Map Nagasaki Martyrs Place of Punishment Ichijo ..read more

Good Friday meditation drawing  When Saint Therese was a little girl she had a prayer card with a painting of Jesus imprisoned in his cell looking at a single flower. This single flower was the source of his consolation. Saint Therese from those moments wished to be that flower providing comfort to our Lord throughout her life. Happy you dropped by! Send me a note below and make the world a bit friendlier ..read more

I didn't use to pray novenas.  I always thought that praying directly to God was better.  But I read this passage from the Bible: "The continual prayer of a just man availeth much." - James 5:16 I thought of the matter more and now I see that novenas are a humble way of praying.  It is asking those closest to Jesus (and holiest) people who walked the earth, to pray for me. This is not a new way of doing things as Moses intervened for the Jews when God wanted to punish them for making a bull with their own hands and started worshipping them. I now think God is pleased whe ..read more

  When I am tempted to complain about the cold, I recall the story from the writings of Saint Alphonsus Liguori… “In external matters. In times of great heat, cold or rain; in times of famine, epidemics and similar occasions we should refrain from expressions like these: “What unbearable heat!” “What piercing cold!” “What a tragedy!” In these instances we should avoid expressions indicating opposition to God’s will. We should want things to be just as they are, because it is God who thus disposes them. An incident in point would be this one: Late one night St. Francis Borgia arrived u ..read more

When I opened our front door today, what I saw was mountains.  Where I live, we are surrounded by mountains.  When you look right, there are mountains. When you look left, there are mountains. I never thought mountains in the winter could be so beautiful. The shades of gray and white turn into almost lavender, and the trees look like leaves upon a bushy hill. In my younger days, I had my fill of mountains but if there is one mountain I would’ve wanted to climb, it is found in the oldest city in the world. This is the mountain found in Jericho.  It is not a pretty s ..read more

  I read today that Lent was viewed as entering into 40 days of battle.  There are 2 enemies - the one within us and the evils in the world. As we fight for the good, we are not left defenseless.  Our weapons are all invisible but extremely powerful! "Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows ..read more

  “The love which is not the offspring of the Passion is feeble.” -St. Francis de Sales From the darkness of nothingness came the light of creation.  After the night comes the dawn.  Without Lent there can be no Easter.  Though this time can pass without one noticing, it is a special time of much-needed grace. The Lenten season can be an opportune time to grow in the wisdom of the ages. “if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it.” James 1:1-11 Yesterday, my husband and planned a leisurely lu ..read more

  Hello! I wanted to share with you some ideas on how to repurpose your old calendars.  Since we don't like wasting anything in our family, I thought you might want to do something creative with usual throwaway items like this. I hope you find it useful! By the way, I had fun designing this year's wall calendar for papemelroti. The theme I picked was "Happy Days" since the world needs a lot more of these in the coming year.  I hope that it will put everyone in a good mood and lighten the load for whoever sees it! Happy you dropped by! Send me a note below and ..read more