Happy February!  This month I will turn 30, and- much more exciting- welcome my third baby into the world!  And with any luck, my family should also hear where the Coast Guard will be sending us this summer…

Anyway, it’s the first Sunday of the month, so it’s time for an update on last month’s challenge to go to Confession (revisit that post here).  Back in the middle of January, Chris watched the kids so that I could go to the Sacrament, and then Mass afterwards, alone.  It was such a wonderful and needed evening for me!  Since this most recent Confession, I have been doing something new that has also been very fruitful: in moments of temptation, I have cried out to God in prayer that He would strengthen me with the grace I had received in that Sacrament.  I can’t remain sinless by my own strength.  But when I ask for and cooperate with grace, I rely not on my own feeble strength but on God’s power working in me!  Such a prayer can be as simple as this: “God, strengthen me with the grace of my last Confession (or last Eucharist…or Marriage, Confirmation, Baptism…).  I need it right about now.”  I highly recommend this practice!

And now, for your next challenge: our first novena.  Valentine’s Day/ World Marriage Day is on the 14th, and the week leading up to it is known as World Marriage Week.  I thought it would be a good time for us all to pray for happier, more loving marriages.  The following novena comes from the words of St. Josemaría Escrivá, a Spanish priest who wanted to help inspire married couples to achieve greater holiness in their vocation.  The website below offers a two minute video reflection and prayers for each of the nine days of this novena.

You can start the nine days of the novena prayers any day this month, listening and praying with your spouse if possible.  Chris and I will start today, and hopefully if Baby Tres (3) shows up during the next nine days, we can still find a few minutes to pray in the hospital.  I hope you can pray with us, and that this novena bears fruit for your marriage!  Let me know how it goes in the comments!

Novena for a Happy and Faithful Marriage: https://www.theabbotscircle.com/marriage-novena/