Humble Handmaid Blog Archives

The sun hears the fields talking about effort and the sun  smiles,  and whispers to me,  "Why don't the fields just rest, for  I am willing to do everything to help them  grow?" Rest, my dears, in prayer. -St. Catherine of Siena ... Read More about Rest in Prayer

I always seem to run across this prayer by Thomas Merton just when I need to read it again. I love the down-to-earth quality of it. I also love that Merton was a Trappist monk, someone whom it might be easy to assume has a little more figured out as far as where he's going in life than the ... Read More about Of mommies and monks (CatholicMom.com version)

"A pure, simple and steady spirit is not distracted by flitting about from one thing to another, for he does all things to the honor of God and tries in his heart to be free from all selfishness." - The Imitation of Christ, Ch. 3 Oh to be a pure, simple and steady spirit, and to not let my passions ... Read More about Thought for the week: A steady spirit

I always seem to run across this prayer just when I need to read it again. I love the frankness and down-to-earth quality of it. I also love that it was written by a Trappist monk, someone whom it might be easy to assume has 'a lot figured out' as far as where he's going in life.  It is a ... Read More about Of mommies and monks

On one of the talks on the retreat last weekend, I heard something that has been on my heart ever since: Christ's standard is holiness; Satan's standard is mediocrity.  I don't think that a lot of us would consider ourselves particularly lazy people. I know that I didn't. But lately, I've ... Read More about Holy vs. Good Enough

This week, I have kept putting off writing about my Miles Christi silent retreat last weekend because it was such a precious, powerful experience for me. The holy priests who staffed the retreat guided us in an intense, truly challenging selection of St. Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual ... Read More about The silence was golden.