Catholic School Principal: Why I Encourage Others To Join the Women of Grace Study Program

Joni Duos

Mrs. Joni Duos, Principal, Our Lady of Fatima School, Lafayette, LA

As a Catholic school Principal of 930 students, my life is very busy but I get to be part of an all girls catholic school and that’s an amazing thing. As a mother of two children and 4 grandchildren, my life is full of activity. As a wife, sister and daughter, my life is full of obligations. Time is scarce, energy is never enough and my rope of life seems to want to unravel quite often! Read the rest…

Pioneers Apply God’s Wisdom to the World

The Pioneers with the youngest member of the group - six week-old Alaina Therese

The Pioneers with the youngest member of the group – six week-old Alaina Therese

The pioneers have just begun their study of Chapter Five, Wisdom for the Abundant Life, and decided to apply these teachings in a way that is particularly relevant to young women – the way the media portrays us.

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A Mom on Mount Carmel

Along_Camelback_Mountain_trail_September_2008I took a fascinating online class on the nature of Mystical Theology in the Church this Spring. What precious time I could carve out from my busy life as a mom six, I spent delving into the works of St. John of the Cross and meeting a new friend, a little Carmelite mystic named Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, often called a “spiritual sister” to St. Therese, the Little Flower. Late at night, huddled on the couch while the household slept, I read about the ascent of Mount Carmel, the famous allegory used by St. John of the Cross to describe the spiritual life, the journey of the soul’s toward union with God.

Our professor asked us to write our final paper on our own journey on this mystical mountain. He challenged us to reflect on how we could embrace the self-renunciation necessary to climb closer to the summit. After a few days of mulling this over mounds of laundry and miles of carpooling, here is what I came up with:

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Mary Visits Her Children: Our Lady of Fatima

olof

Nine-year-old Lucia dos Santos looked into the angry face of her mother and wondered if this was what the Beautiful Lady meant when she said Lucia would suffer. Little Lucia had never experienced such fury from her mother, nor had her mother ever called her a liar before. Indeed, her heart was deeply saddened. Yet a warm glow filled her whenever she thought about the Lady from Heaven who had visited her and her younger cousins, Jacinta and Francisco. Read the rest…