Defend Us in Battle

Mont St. Michel, France

The name "Michael" means "Who is like to God(?)".

St. Michael has been prayed to and revered since the earliest days of the Church. In fact, in said earliest days of the church angels were held in higher respect than even the Blessed Mother. Surprised? St. Michael's name used to come before her's on the Litany of the Saints. He is known as the "Prince of the angels" and, as an archangel, is as high up as they go in the angelic hierarchy. He led the angels in battle against the demons around the beginning of time and according to prophecy will do it again at the end of time.

However, early Christians saw him as more of a holy physician than a warrior saint. He was (and still is) patron saint of the sick. There was even a shrine (sorry! I don't remember where it was) where the sick and dying went to be healed by St. Micheal. There are many reports, some probably fictional, of visions and apparitions of this saint. In the 14th century he is said to have appeared three times to St. Aubert, a bishop in France. St. Aubert was instructed to build a church on a rather peculiar location: an mountain-like island just off the coast. The result was the amazing Mont St. Michel, a village, abbey and cathedral built Minas Tirith-style. I have a strong inclination to believe that Minas Tirith is modeled on Mont St. Michel. You've already seen the picture up top there. On the very top of the highest steeple is a statue of Saint Michael. You can see a picture of it here. (Brag time: did I mention that my dad went there? :-D)

Saint Michael is also the saint who is there with you when you die, helping you fight your very last battle with the devil, who will be trying his very evil best to make you give up and despair.

St. Michael the archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, oh prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

P.S. Did I mention that there is a St. Michael chaplet and a St. Michael scapular? More info here and here, respectively. You'll have to scroll down quite a bit on that last one.

Slightly belated, but...

Just to get back into the swing of things here, I thought I'd post about Saint Micheal, since yesterday was the feast day "Dedication to Saint Micheal the Archangel". I'm not sure what that "Dedication" means, but I am about to go look it up. Coming up! A picture, some facts and stories about this saint, and hopefully the history of the feast day! My priest talked about him this past Sunday in the adult catechism I attend, so stay tuned for some neat stuff.

My apologies..

Hey everyone... um, I've been ridiculously buried in schoolwork, so... I know I'm a bad blogger and blah blah blah, but hopefully (if all goes well!) I'll have more freetime soon! :)

Reviews by the "Real Katie"

The so-called "Real Katie" is currently very busy and unable to post, but to keep this place alive I have requested (and been given) permission to post some of her reviews from her review blog on her. I am lazy so you will only get the link. Enjoy!

Ever After
The Faerie Path by Frewin Jones
At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks

A post of no importance.

Just testing out the loverly signature that I added!

E-mag!

The marvelous Katies are starting an e-magazine! Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page to see an ad. There is no link yet, but The Real Katie will be making a website so we'll let you know when that is done. The e-mag is not connected to this blog, we came up with it as a separate idea. However, since we have this lovely cyber-spot, I am now making use of it. We can't write, edit and publish an entire magazine by ourselves. Ideas and helpers are most welcome!! Please contact one of us if you would like to help or have a suggestion.

The first issue will be out in October. If you'd like to subscribe, comment and let us know! It will be sent out by email so we will probably make a new email address for it. More details on subscriptions coming soon!

Here is a general outline of the kinds of articles we need (we haven't got a concrete list yet):

A faith-related article (as this is a Catholic magazine)
Saint of the month?
Health & Beauty
Reviews (we have that one covered already)
Recipes (I'll probably be doing that)
Craft?
Personality quiz?
A contest of some sort?
A story? I mean, true story.
A "monthly playlist", a list of must-hear songs, because as the Real Katie said, who isn't always looking for new music?

Please comment with your ideas and suggestions!

Carrie Underwood's new single: Cowboy Casanova!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd5UeL6wEmI

Listen to it on youtube! It's really fun!

Bookses, precious!

Need something new to read? Here a some great books for you to put on your "next trip to the library or bookstore" list:

The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine
Sorry, I just had to mention this one. It's one of my all time favorite books. It's a funny, heart-warming story about finding courage in times of cowardice. Also to check out by this author, Ella Enchanted.

Christy by Catherine Marshall
An inspirational classic, this is the story of 19-year-old Christy Huddleston, who in the year of 1912 goes to work as a teacher in the remote village of Cutter Gap, far back in the Tenessee mountains. There she learns lessons about love for God and other people by living with, working with, and befriending the fascinating, complex mountain-dwellers.

All For The Love of Mothers: Memoirs of a Catholic Midwife by Lisbeth Burger
An absolutely wonderful book, composed of true stories and anecdotes told from the view of a Catholic midwife working in Germany. As a midwife in a relatively small town, she was closely assosciated with the families she helped and many of the other women around confided in her. With true stories taken from the lives of these women and their family, she illustrates an unabashedly Catholic view of chastity, abortion, marriage, and child-raising. A great book. I'd recommend it only to people 15 and over, as it deals with some rather mature topics.

Lady Susan by Jane Austen
Probably the least-known of her works, this is Austen's tale of a scheming, scornful woman and the people she tries to manipulate. It's written in epistolary style, which makes it really interesting because we get the story from virtually every character's point of view.


Have any books you'd like to recommend? Comment and let us know!

P.S.
A great way to get the classics, for free! Go to librivox.org, where you can download audio versions of books onto your computer and even your mP3 player. Only books that are in the public domain (i.e., published before 1923. For more information go here).