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Sep 19, 2015
Adoption· Catholic Influencers· Faith· Life

Raining Roses

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This post contains affiliate links.  See my About Me page for more details.

So, in case you haven’t guessed already, I am someone who prays – a lot. I’ve always been fascinated by saints and their stories. I’ve always believed if you ask them, they will pray for you. My patron saint is Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (my middle name is Elizabeth, and when I had to pick one of the many saints named Elizabeth in third grade, of course I picked the princess!). I pray “Saint Anthony come around something’s lost and can’t be found” so much that I hear my three year old saying it when he can’t find his pacifier. But my favorite saint is Saint Therese’. Saint Therese’ once stated, “I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth. I will let fall from heaven a shower of roses.” When I pray a novena to Saint Therese – for nine days consecutively, without wavering in my petition – she intercedes for me – and as an added bonus, she sends a rose or roses.

I don’t know about you, but there are many times I begin a novena and I do not get through the nine days without forgetting to pray it altogether – or changing my intention. One thing I believe is that praying a novena teaches us to truly know our hearts desires (and the Lord’s will for us). There have been many times when I have prayed this novena and have been blessed with roses, but this article will talk about three “big” blessings I attribute to St. Therese’ intervention.

1. Becoming a wife
It had always been my hearts desire to fall in love with a good man and get married. Through several relationships in my life I thought, “maybe he is the one”. But, whenever I went to pray a novena that this person and I got engaged and married, I never made it through to nine days without changing the wording of my intention. Finally when I was single, I prayed to be called to the vocation of marriage and to find a faithful man who would be my husband.

For almost a year before I met my husband a friend of mine suggested I date her friend Maria’s brother, Matt. I never met Maria and all I knew about Matt was that he went to school to learn to fix computers. So yeah . . .nothing like getting the vibe from your friends that if he’s single, you’re interested! Then, I met Maria. I immediately wanted to be her best friend. I asked her to tell me about her brother. She practically hit the ceiling when she jumped and replied, “I was hoping you’d ask!” She left that day with my picture and my phone number. A short time later I was visiting my friend who just had a baby and my cell phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number so I was going to let it go straight to voicemail, but my friends shouted “answer it!” So I did. It was Matt and he asked me out on a date. On June 17, 2004 Matt came to my apartment to pick me up for our first date. It was the first time I met him in person. When I opened the door to greet him he handed me a red rose. That was the first time I had ever been given a rose on a first date. And that was the last time I ever had a first date with someone .rainbowroses.jpeg

2. Becoming a mother
Matt and I were married in 2006. We had hoped to just “get pregnant” without any planning. That did not happen. I went to my doctor and went on medicine. No luck. I started charting using the Creighton Model of NFP and tons of red flags appeared. I got surgery in 2010. Although I believe the surgery helped, I still did not conceive. We were emotionally exhausted from infertility. We began to discuss adoption. Honestly, I had always had a heart for adoption, so I thought, maybe we will conceive and adopt. The cost for adopting was intimidating but our desire surpassed our fears. We started the journey not knowing if we would go the domestic or international route. Either way, it was going to be expensive. We saved money and reached out to friends and family. We decided on adopting domestically and were matched with a potential birth mother. That did not work out. Three more times we were chosen by potential birthparents. Three more times we were told after the baby was born that the mother (and sometimes father) decided to parent. It was an emotional roller coaster filled with heartache. The fourth time was different though. Matt and I were not only heartbroken, but confused. Matt was certain that this situation was the one. I knew the month before I had prayed a novena to Saint Therese and unwavered in my intention – that we would adopt this baby. I prayed that this child was meant to be our child. But there we were . . . hugging, crying and sobbing in our kitchen. Once again, the biological parents had changed their minds.

Two and a half weeks went by and I tried to keep myself busy and distracted. On July 2 I walked out of my house to meet a friend for lunch. I was taken back by the fact that all of my rose bushes seemed to bloom overnight. There were roses everywhere. I was annoyed. I looked up at the sky as I got into my car and said (possibly out loud), “St. Therese’, I don’t think your funny. In fact, that’s rude”. I was literally shaking my head. I get to the restaurant to meet my friend, Marissa. We sit down. There’s a rose on our table. In fact, there’s a rose on every table. I thought to myself “what is going on????” Twenty minutes into our lunch my cell phone rings – it’s the adoption agency. I apologetically said to Marissa, “I’m sorry, I have to take this because I have NO IDEA what they could want”. I answer and my social worker says that the biological parents changed their mind back, but the baby is sick. Are you and Matt still interested?” I said yes. Of course I had to talk to Matt and would call them back, but yes! All they could tell us was “he is very sick”. Matt was scared, but I just thought, we’ll pray and he will be ok. The biological parents signed the papers late in the day July 3. Since July 4th is a national holiday, we couldn’t meet him until the 5th. To make a long story short, that once sick boy is now very healthy, and bright, and adorable, and kind, and funny, and amazing . . .

3. Becoming a mother again
This third story has yet to come to it’s conclusion, but I believe it will soon. In January I prayed a novena to Saint Therese’ for two of my friends and for the intention that Matt and I would be blessed with another child. On the eighth day of this novena Matt and I went to a surprise birthday party. It was held in a two-bedroom apartment in Philadelphia. Almost immediately upon arriving I noticed roses everywhere.

There were vases and vases of rose bouquets. There was even a vase of roses in the bathroom. The tablecloth had roses on it, the cups had roses on them – literally everywhere you looked – roses. It was so overwhelming I actually started counting the roses in the vases (I’m the life of the party, I know). I stopped counting at 80. Yes, eighty. A short while after (possible a month), I sat down to write a letter to a local crisis pregnancy organization. This organization has five centers in driving distance from our home. As I was writing the letter, I heard a friend request notification go off from my Facebook page. It was the President of the organization I was writing a letter too! I had never met her – I didn’t even know her name until she sent that request. She invited me to speak about my husband and I’s desire to adopt at their leadership conference. As I sat at that conference waiting to speak I learned that the patron of this organization is . . . St. Therese’! Since that time the President and I have started an adoption support group. In honor of Saint Therese’, we are calling it The Rose Garden. Matt and I are still hoping and praying to be blessed with another child. But, it’s probably just a matter of God’s time.

Here is the prayer to Saint Therese’:red-love-romantic-flowers

O Little Therese of the Child Jesus

Please pick for me a rose

from the heavenly garden

and send it to me

as a message of love.

O Little Flower of Jesus,

ask God to grant the favors

I now place with confidence

in your hands

( mention your special prayer request here )

St. Therese, help me to always believe

as you did, in God’s great love for me,

so that I may imitate your “Little Way” each day.

Has the Little Flower sent you a rose? I have found that writing the prayer in a notebook, along with my intention helps me “stay the course”. Do you have any tricks or tips to help someone pray a novena for nine days? Please share your story!


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Comments

  1. Amy G. says

    September 29, 2015 at 10:28 am

    What an amazing story! I would have been ranting at Therese, too. “Like, really, not cool making fun of me.” Your little guy is so blessed ot have you and Matt for a Mom and Dad. <3

    • Amy says

      October 7, 2015 at 10:42 pm

      Thank you Amy!!!

  2. Sherry says

    November 13, 2015 at 11:25 am

    Such a lovely tender post. thanks for sharing your stories

    • Amy says

      November 13, 2015 at 3:54 pm

      Thank you! I am so happy you enjoyed reading it!

  3. Kelly Moran says

    November 13, 2015 at 10:29 pm

    Such a beautiful story. Like you, St Therese is my favorite saint. I took her name as my confirmation name. And similar to you, I have about a half dozen stories I could share – all involving roses – which I truly believe were sent to me by St Therese. Many came at very unexpected times and many times when I needed them the most. Your stories are beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

    • Amy says

      November 14, 2015 at 8:53 am

      When you have time (haha, time – who has that lol), please share a rose story or two – I’d love to hear them! I am now a huge fan of her mom as well, Saint Zelie’ 🙂

  4. Tim Misukanis says

    November 15, 2015 at 7:00 pm

    Hi Amy! I hope it’s alright if a guy posts a comment on your beautiful article. I really enjoyed reading what you had to say about prayer and St. Therese. Congratulations and Thank You for sharing your story of becoming a WIFE and becoming a MOTHER. You are truly Blessed: as a very gifted writer and in your vocation as a wife and mother! I am single and I hope and pray that God has called me to the vocation of Marriage. Any good prayers or novenas that you can recommend to me (a single man) praying to someday find a Faithful Catholic woman to be my wife? Happy Feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary (She is the protector of bakers and her name translates to “God is abundance” in Hebrew) on Tuesday (November 17th). May God Bless You and your family. Have a Blessed Day! 🙂

    • Amy says

      November 16, 2015 at 6:31 am

      Hi Tim! It’s more than alright for a guy to post a comment! I would say pray to St. Therese’ and also her parents, St. Zelie and St. Louis Martin. I feel as though they are powerful intercessors for marriage! Also, many women pray to St. Anne for a husband – maybe pray to her that you meet one of them 🙂 I love the meaning of Elizabeth – not sure I had ever heard that – thank you and God Bless!

    • Amy says

      November 19, 2015 at 8:17 pm

      Of course it’s ok! Praying for your intention Tim! Thank you so much for the compliments!

  5. Oge says

    February 11, 2017 at 3:53 am

    Thank you so much Amy!! Your posts blessed my day, I hv been struggling with my novels since this month but would not complete any. My intentions and mood are such that I feel ‘abandoned’ by God even though I know He never abandons us.. My eyes are filled with tears tight now.. Tears saying I will start again, God will answer me, all will be well.. Thank you Amy

    • Amy says

      February 11, 2017 at 9:13 am

      All will be well! I hope today is awesome for you!

  6. Josie says

    December 12, 2017 at 2:51 pm

    What a beautiful website!
    I, too, have a deep devotion to St.Therese and I made a Cd to honor her !

    Josie

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prayerwinechocolate

You and I both know that the Rosary is not just fo You and I both know that the Rosary is not just for white haired Grandmas… but how do we convince our friends and loved ones to embrace this powerful prayer and meditation on the life of Our Lord Jesus?

Honestly, with me in my 20’s… it started by being a gathering of broken hearts.

I was lonely, another friend was going through infertility, another was stuck in the past so much it affected her daily life… another found herself facing an unplanned pregnancy.

When you hit rock bottom, you grasp at anything that could possibly pull you up.

For us, that was the Rosary.
How? One friend suggested it because her Mom had a rosary group she attended for years. Another (me) said “yes, let’s do it”.

If you have a friend who is deep in sorrow… go to her with a Rosary and offer to pray with her.

If this is a person who may be reluctant, bring wine. Offer one glass and two listening ears.
The Lord and His Mother will do the rest.

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God created so much for us to enjoy! How amazing i God created so much for us to enjoy!
How amazing is it that all of creation was created for us?!

I hear “God loves you” often. 

I believe that God loves us more than we can imagine.

However, sometimes I forget to contemplate the magnitude of that truth.

When I was writing the first Be Yourself Journal, I came across this in the catechism and I had to include it in both the girl’s and the boy’s journals:

“God created everything for man but man in turn was created to serve and love God and to offer all creation back to him…

the heavens and the earth, the sea and all the rest of creation exist for him.”

This summer, our family is taking time to indulge and embrace just a sliver of this incredible gift.

In what ways do you enjoy God’s creation? Share your favorite ways to enjoy nature in when comments!
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It's so intense.  It's so real.  It's just as much for you as an individual as it is for any other person.

When I was in my early 20's, I would often to go a neighboring parish for daily Mass before I went to work as a camp counselor.

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It touched my heart.
I want it to touch yours too.
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The first Prayer Wine Chocolate Retreat was held i The first Prayer Wine Chocolate Retreat was held in 2016.
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My husband Matt gives each of our children a bless My husband Matt gives each of our children a blessing before they go to bed at night.
I asked him if his parents did that … and he said, “no”.

He said that his father would bless him with holy water in church, so he was doing that with our son one day and the priest who said Mass saw him do it. The priest then told Matt, “you know, a parent blessing his or her child is one of the few blessings a lay person has the authority to give.” 

Since then, he has given them a blessing almost daily.
The words he uses as he makes the sign of the cross on their foreheads are:
“God bless and protect my son (daughter)
Keep him (her)safe, good and holy and protect him (her) from all evil, Amen.”
I might have to ask him or the kids what I’m missing or if I messed that up a little… but you get the idea.
Bless your children!

I read that a blessing realigns our world with heaven by acknowledging all is a gift.

Do you bless your children? Did your parents bless you?
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Type the next line of the prayer in the comments! Type the next line of the prayer in the comments!
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Hi there!!!! I am so happy you are here and we ar Hi there!!!! 
I am so happy you are here and we are connected on “the gram”!

My name is Amy Brooks… and I started the Prayer Wine Chocolate blog with the intention to share how my husband and I grew our family through adoption-without signing up with an adoption agency.

I also wanted to create gift guides that had Catholic gifts on it.

I share this today because my word of the year is “laugh” and when I thought of posting a “Friday introduction “ I immediately recalled the saying:
“Want to make God laugh? Tell Him your plans!”

What starting this blog has led to- through the grace of God- has been amazing!
I realized that I had what @jenniferfulwiler would call a blue flame inside of me - writing.
Once again, I have to laugh because my English grade in 8th grade was so bad my dad pulled me off the soccer team and when I started college I had to take a remedial English class. God has reminded me over and over again that through Him all things are possible!

One of the greatest experiences in this journey has been meeting incredible people who love the Lord and who are truly kind and compassionate. It was through meeting @windhovering Jerry Windley-Doust that motivated me to write the Be Yourself Journals that our now published by @osvcatholicbooks . I also have been extremely blessed by the community of Catholic Social Media now known as @catholicsonline . If you are trying to evangelize or minister with the help of social media, I invite you to join us! 

I’m the oldest of 5. I asked my brother to give a speech at my wedding reception because I think he’s so funny that he truly could be a stand-up comedian. He ended up giving a speech so touching, I published part of it one boy’s Be Yourself Journal. He also cracked everybody at the wedding up 😂.

Somewhere in this group of pictures there is a picture of my parents. In that picture, my dad has his face painted. One of my siblings overheard him talking about him having this done as a “once in a lifetime experience “! 😂 He’s 72… apparently last weekend was his first opportunity to have this done.

Ps. My younger son recently asked me if I had water when I was a kid. He then asked me if soap was invented yet.
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You ever see or read something and think… “Wo You ever see or read something and think… 
“Wow, I wish I had read this YEARS ago”?

I think I eventually learned this on my own but still… don’t junior high and high school aged kids justify hanging out with the wrong crowd with the following excuse:

“But Jesus told us to love every body!”

If you have a middle school aged child or a teenager and need some backup concerning who your son or daughter hangs out with… Saint Francis DeSales is your guy!

I found this when I was writing “Be Yourself: a Journal for Catholic Boys” and made sure I included it!

This advice stays true for us as we age too. 
Let’s help one another see Jesus in heaven!

I included some pictures of me between the ages of 13 and 15!
The second picture was taken after morning Mass in our high school chapel… how lucky was I to be friends with the only students in the whole school that went to daily Mass!

Tag a friend who helps you grow in virtue!!!

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If you are raising your son as a Catholic Christia If you are raising your son as a Catholic Christian, you know God loves him more than we could imagine and has plans for him to prosper!
This journal was created so you can help him see that too!
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Perfect for boys ages 9 to 13!
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I thought maybe I could get some work done… I wr I thought maybe I could get some work done… I wrote a paragraph and started working on a YouTube video but Mickey Mouse wouldn’t jump right on my daughter’s game so instead I made this reel.
Does that make sense?
Please pray for me! I have so little time and a very long to do list!
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What Scripture or Saint quote do you think young p What Scripture or Saint quote do you think young people need to hear and really listen to?

If there’s one Saint quote I want my children to always remember, it’s this one.

Years ago when I started blogging, I became friends with an amazing Catholic artist named Meg. Although I never met her in person, she sent me some of her work out of the kindness of her heart.

I put this away with the intention of hanging it up in my son’s room when he got older.

This weekend, we painted a bedroom that has become our oldest son’s own room. 

I picked out the color because it was 4th of July weekend and the name of the paint is American Anthem.
Plus, it was A LOT cheaper than the other color I picked out.

Today I dug out this picture I hope to hang somewhere in this room.
The word AFRAID matches the paint perfectly.
Why is this quote so important to me?
I know what despair feels like. I don’t wish that upon anyone.
And with so many events in the news… I can’t help see the despair and lack of hope that drives young people, often young men, to do such tragic things.
Our world needs hope.
The hope that comes from the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

What quote do you think young people need to hear?

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Taking kids to Eucharistic Adoration… #Eucharist Taking kids to Eucharistic Adoration…
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