#AveMomsPray - Life on the Road Less Traveled

October 5, 2021

Strange but True #PrayerStories

Has God ever done something extraordinary to get your attention? Some heavenly sign that changed the way you looked at life? On a cold winter’s day in January 1983 I woke up in the ICU. About a week had passed since my car accident — leg in traction, tubes coming out all over my body. My car had slid down a hillside road on a patch of black ice, and skidded into oncoming traffic. The impact was so hard, my seat belt broke. I had severe internal injuries, crushed pelvis and femur, and required a complete blood transfusion. I spent a month in the hospital, […]

August 20, 2021

What is #PrayAcrossAmerica? And how do I get involved?

This fall Ave Maria Press is going to be releasing The Ave Prayer Book for Catholic Mothers, a beautiful, full-color collection of favorite prayers and #PrayerStories of more than 70 faith-filled, inspiring Catholic moms with children of all ages and stages. (Preorders go on sale September 1, 2021.) More about that later, except to say … As this book was in development, I got to thinking about the thousands of Catholic women across the country who needed this kind of encouragement, and I started praying about how I could connect with these sisters of mine in a very practical, personal way. During this “season of COVID” I […]

August 7, 2021

Transfigured Silence

This weekend I’m enjoying a little down time on retreat at the St Joseph and Mary Retreat House near Mundelein Seminary. As it happens, it’s right near the National Shrine of St Max Kolbe, so I know where I’ll be heading on my way home! Tonight’s readings included the Gospel about the Transfiguration, how the glory of the Lord burst on the senses of all present, so they could see with new eyes the divine reality present right in front of them. There in that darkened chapel, after the final benediction, the monstrance glowed with a captivating shine. Suddenly a song from my youth group […]