Ave Maria, gratia plena
Friday October 13, 2006
About 13 years ago, I was sitting on the front stoop of my house on Capitol Hill in Washington, talking with my neighbor about how much I hoped to get married someday, but how it didn't seem to be working...
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About Crunchy Con
Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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Congratulations to you, Family Dreher! May God continue to bless you.>
God bless little Nora. Another life! An eternal soul!>
O wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful wonderful, and yet again wonderful, and after that, out of all hooping! - William Shakespeare, As You Like It ...
Blessed be God in all His Angels and all His Orthodox and Catholic Saints!>
Praying God's richest blessings for all five of you. Congratulations...the Five Galloway's>
Beautiful. Congratulations, and may God continue to bless you all!>
What an awesome story.
No wonder your move to the Orthodox Church has been so heart-rending and wrenching. Your debt to the Catholic Church and its prayers goes deep, and straight to the heart of your marriage.>
God grant her - and all of you - many years!>
Axios!
OK, everyone, click HERE:
http://www.holycrossonline.org/our_ministries/parish_ministries/choir/#listen
Then HERE:
">http://www.holycrossonline.org/our_ministries/parish_ministries/choir/#listen>
Sorry, the previous post was supposed to take you to links for two audio files, O Pure Virgin Mother and The Angel Cried.
Still that link will get you within one click.
Axios! God grant Nora Lucia many years.>
Dear Rod,
Is it permissible for Orthodox Christians to recognize Fatima? I had gathered that the words about "reign of Pius XI" and "conversion of Russia" turned off most Orthodox. Also, Our Lady of Lourdes, if that apparition is authentic, identifies herself as the "immaculate conception" which I gather most Orthodox do not recognize.
May Jesus continue to keep your beautiful family.>
Congratulations on the safe arrival of baby Nora Lucia Dreher! May Our Lady of the Rosary continue to watch over your family with her maternal care. God bless!>
MER raises legitimate points, but that's for another time. For now, may God be with you and your family and raise Nora to be a fine Christian woman, regardless of what Church she is raised in or adheres to when she is grown.>
Congrats!>
Many years to Nora!>
Congratulations Rod and Julie on the birth of your new baby girl.
There's no relationship as wonderful as that of a father and daughter. Unless it's a grandfather and granddaughter.
I remember the birth of my daughter like it was yesterday. A couple of weeks ago I was holding her youngest daughter who just turned two months old. Out of the corner of my eye I caught a look on my daughter's face that made my heart swell. It reflected her emotions at seeing her father holding her daughter.
It was a special moment I'll treasure forever. Not unlike the minute of her birth when the OB called out "you lose!" when she entered the world. Back then we didn't have sonograms and such and I'd bet quite a bit with friends and co-workers that I'd have another boy, I'm a boy making kind of man you understand.
Since you're a father of a daughter then I'll allow you to use my saying when the boys came around. "She's my pride and joy. I expect her to be treated accordingly."
Again, congratulations, and thanks for giving me the opportunity to count my blessings.>
Congratulations to you, Julie, and the big brothers!
That's a great story, Rod. Thanks for sharing.>
Congratulations on the great blessing! Glad to hear everyone is doing well.
A fair warning: you, Daddy Dreher, are about to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nora Lucia Enterprises.
Little girls wrap Daddy around their fingers like rubber bands. Mine sure have... :)>
Rod,
I was deeply moved by your story. I cannot thank you enough for sharing it. I believe very much in seeking the intercession of our Blessed Mother, and you are living proof of just how powerful such intercession can be. One can only imagine what amazing things God has yet in store for you and your family!
As a Catholic, I often have trouble praying the Rosary (not for theological reasons, but because I tend to get distracted by other thoughts while praying it). You have inspired me to get back to my Rosary!
You have been in my prayers throughout your struggle with whether or not to remain Catholic or to become Orthodox, and you continue to be in them now.
May God bless you and your family, with special blessings upon little Nora.>
Rod: A beautiful love story, made richer by the birth of Nora Lucia. Your, and Julie's, domestic church has grown. So has ours, by her nativity. Maneat semper in amorem Dei.>
Congratulations!!! May God grant Nora Lucia many years!!!
Jenny Juliana (of Lazarevo)>
Congratulations on the birth of Nora Lucia. Newborns are so incredibly precious.
Lucia dos Santos, pray for Nora Lucia and for the Dreher family.>
God grant her many years,
Health and salvation,
God grant Nora many, many, many years!
Glory to God, and congratulations to the delirious parents.>
And thanks be to God for the gift of infant Baptism. You must be looking forward to her deliverance into Christ's Kingdom.>
So ... where can the rest of us get ahold of that novena?>
Thanks be to God!>
May Nora live a hundred years, make a billion dollars and write brilliant books that will end the division between our communions. Unless, of course, Christ and His mother bring that about before then. If that happens, it's OK with me if she spends the money on y'all. Congratulations to you both!>
By the way, Rod, on the Orthodox Church calendar (not the new style calender), Oct. 13 is the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God. Congratulations to you and your wife.
Fr. Seraphim>
">http://www.theholyrosary.org/54novena.html>
And so say all of us!>
It's a terrible, wonderful, and dangerous thing to believe in love, fate, and the magic of the universe in the way that you and your dear wife, Julie, do.
You are in my prayers and I can only say Bravo and Congratulations! Honestly, I think your way is the best way to live. And, blessings on Nora Lucia Dreher!>
Congratulations to the family Dreher. As you already know there is nothing like a daughter for a father.
God's blessings on all of you.>
Congratulations to Rod and Julie and the boys. As the father of a newborn daughter, I will second Dale's and others' comments. Nobody steals a father's heart like his little girl does.>
What a beautiful story! (Wiping away tears)
May God continue to rain down his blessings upon you.
And may Nora Lucia bring as much joy into your lives as our daughter has brought to us.
(I thought I posted my congratulations before, mayhaps they were lost in the ether.)>
Your story touched me all the way here in Sydney (Australia). Where can we get that prayer? Congratulations to you, Julie and the boys, I am sure Nora is very special
Jo>
I followed the link for the novena given above. The luminous mysteries mess up the 54 day novena. The 54 day novena is actually two novenas, one of petition and one of thanksgiving. 1/3 of the rosary (5 mysteries) each day (so three days for a whole rosary) times 9 total rosaries equals 27 days times two equals 54 days.>
Congratulations! May God grant many blessings to Nora as she begins her time out in this world, and speedy recoveryto her mother.>
Many many happy days for you and your family, Rod. Your story is inspiring!>
Boko,
I didn't look over the website too carefully before I linked to it, but I think you are correct. The 54 Day Rosary Novena that I am aware of does not include the Luminous Mysteries. While we are at it, the 54 Day Novena is actually 6 sets of Novenas since a novena is by definition special prayers said on nine successive days.>
Thanks for your inspiring story, and congratulations on the birth of your new daughter.
I too have been waiting for an event to happen in my life, literally a second chance. Thank you for reminding me about the power of prayer, especially to the Virign Mary.>
CMW,
After I had already posted, I realized I left out part of my math. (Always show your work, my teachers told me. I didn't always listen then and I messed up now.)
A complete Rosary contains all 15 decades. If one says 5 decades a day, it will take 3 days to say a complete Rosary, 27 days to say a novena (9) of complete Rosaries (9 times 3), and 54 days to say two novenas of Rosaries (one of petition and one of thanksgiving).
Partisans of the Luminous Mysteries (one of whom I am not) might perhaps want to say a 72 day novena (4 days for a whole Rosary times 9 for a novena times two). Otherwise, they're just praying for 54 days (a good thing, certainly, but not a novena).
I prefer to go with what has worked in the past (which I think is implicit in Rod's piece). I'm reminded of TS Eliot's line from Little Gidding; when I offer a private devotion for some intention I come "to kneel/ Where prayer has been valid."
Yours,
Boko>
Oh, and one more thing:
So, with the 54 day Rosary novena, one starts with the Joyful Mysteries, then Sorrowful, then Glorious, then Joyful again, and so on. NOT J on Mon and Th, S on Tues and Fri, and G on Wed, Sat, and Sun. The whole point is to say (twice) 9 (novena) complete (J,S,G) Rosaries.
Like Barbie, I find math makes my brain hurt.>
L'acheim! Mazel tov!
May the Good Lord bless you and keep (all of) you for all of your days.
Shalom!
And welcome back to the world of diapers and 2 a.m. feedings after long days at work.>
CMW, thanks for posting the link to the 54-day Rosary novena.
The Luminous Mysteries really do screw things up. They destroy the whole symbolism of the 15-decade complete Rosary: the 150 Hail Marys are supposed to symbolize the 150 Psalms.
I think I'll stick with the Rosary I grew up with.>
What a coincidence. As you know, Svetlana and I, are recently married, also after a short courtship. We met at St. Seraphim's and were just friends, with no real attraction for about 3 months. Then last spring we drove down to Austin for a C.S. Lewis Conference. And who would happen to be there but our good friend Frederika. We had a chance to speak with her a bit, and thoroughly enjoyed her talk on beauty and its relation to Truth. Afterwards, we drove down to the Orthodox monastery and as they say, the rest is history. Three months later, we got married.
As the Russians say, "Slava Boga", Glory to God!
many years, indeed!>
I started a 54 day rosary novena on March 1st. I started out asking for a job but then added more intentions as I went along. I agree that praying the rosary every day changes you and helps you to conform your will to God's will. It's funny how your intentions change toward the end of your novena. I too am now asking Him to bring someone into my life. Great article!
I noticed the 54-day election novena on the internet. The dates, I am sure, are not just a coincidence. Most interesting is that the 27th day of the novena in Oct 7 - the feast of Our Lady Of The Rosary. It is divinely inspired.
I'm sure, absolutely sure, that you and your beloved weren't brought together by the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima (or Mary), but by our great high priest amd the only mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). Nevertheless, I rejoice with you. Beautiful post. Grace and peace to you.
Aww, I'm supposed to be staying away, but what a beautiful post. God bless you Rod, and congratulations on the birth of your daughter.
:-)
Heh- I thought it was a beautiful post before and I just now noticed today's date!
What a beautiful story.
My son Juan Francisco celebrates his birthday today as well. He is five years old today.
Congratulations on the birth of your daughter. May every day be as joyful as today!
Lovely, simply lovely.
Re: Is it permissible for Orthodox Christians to recognize Fatima?
I don't know about Orthodox, but some High Anglicans, including my priest back home, do recognize the visions of Fatima- he once made a pilgrimage there.
Hmmm. That's weird- I haven't posted on this yet but another "thomas tucker" posted above.
Either there's another thomas tucker, I have developed amnesia,or someone has assumed my identity.
Regardless, I second the thought of the previous thomas tucker.
And may God bless Nora and the Drehers.
How many does that make Rod? Have you now moved from a man-to-man defense to a zone defense?
Congratulations! I'd already decided to go back to a daily rosary. This first one will be for Nora Lucia Dreher and her loving family.
God's blessings on the Dreher family.
Congratulations.
I prefer to pray to *God* Himself. Where again in scripture does it say to pray to someone else?
What a beautiful story and testimony to the power of prayer. Our third daughter is named Nora Bernadette--isn't Nora a wonderful name?
Blessings on you and yours.
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