C.Ruegg

I was kneeling in the pew after Mass, reflecting on this blessing inside me when the urge to cry became very real. How many struggle for years for a healthy child growing inside them — to have what I have? There was a time at the start of my marriage where that unfounded fear: what if I can’t conceive? cropped up. It was silly, but very real to me and I felt like if I couldn’t well, then, it was unfair. I cried to my husband about my worries. He held me in his arms and told me I was likely being insane, but child or no child, it was God’s will and we could look into adopting later on if there was actually a problem. He cared of course, but like a man typically cares; it’s not usually as strong as the desire of a woman who has that inherent desire to be a mother, to nurture, to give life. He likely cared more for the sake of making me happy than to fill any emptiness he had himself inside him without a child to fill the gaps. Prompted by fears, even without healthcare due to my no

So, while they do exist, I know I struggled to find a novena to Saints Louis and  Zélie  Martin online, so I've decided to write my own.  Novena to Sts. Louis and  Zélie  Martin Saint Louis and Zélie Martin, you were parents to one of the greatest saints of modern times, you always gave God the first say, and you practiced an amazing resignation to His holy will. I ask you both to please come to my aid, help me in my needs; I place my worries at your feet. Please pray for this special intention of mine (list intention), please beg God, on behalf of your loyalty and love of Him, and on behalf of your saintly children, to grant my request. I have full confidence in your intercession. God answered so many of your requests; you asked for a missionary and behold your daughter has been declared a patroness of missionaries! And He blessed all your living children with vocations just as you requested Him to. I beseech you, in your mercy, to hear me, to pray for me, and to take

A message to Women who Lost their Children, even at the earliest stage By: Cara Ruegg This month commemorates Infant Loss and Miscarriage awareness. I find this cross is especially hard in today's society where the unborn or even the born are not considered by a crazy amount of people as being human, in a world where people don't even bat an eyelash at abortion and a doctor makes the recommendation to a broken mother and refers to the child as a "fetus" or by any term that suggests it is not a baby, not her child, that she is not and never was a mother. The Catholic belief that a child is a child, and a woman becomes a mother at the moment of conception is incredibly consoling to these women who otherwise may feel ashamed and as if their loss is belittled or misunderstood by a world that does not even recognize the child as ever being a child, just a piece of tissue, or worse: a parasite. Imagine being a mother to a lovely child, who grew up to be maybe tw

Broken Families. Broken Children. Broken Society. By Cara Ruegg The family is the first society a child will know and it is what will mold the child. The problem nowadays is that this tiny society is under attack, and because of this vicious attack on the family, children are coming out of the ashes broken, confused, and very insecure. This obviously impacts society as a whole because we then have broken citizens! Yes, of course, the child could break the cycle, they could learn from the mistakes of their parents and come out strong and courageous, but that requires a lot of determination and probably another role model in their life to set the example of what love and commitment looks like. These parents who divorce, or who have entered into unhappy marriages, are actually crippling their children. The child goes away then wondering if they will ever be loved because their dad didn’t love their mom, or their mom didn’t love their dad; they enter relationships, insecure

For Richer, for Poorer: How Hardships and Poverty can Benefit your Marriage By Cara E. Ruegg image found  here A lot of friends, acquaintances, and some strangers too were very concerned that my husband and I planned on marrying when we weren’t too financially secure, with him working part-time and studying full-time. They talked to me about how my marriage would fall to pieces before it even begun because the stress would be too much, how I’d starve, how this was a cruel thing for me to consider with a child looming in the future (even though his planned graduation was 8 months away from our marriage date). When I told my family though, they had the opposite reaction: nonchalance. Oh, so you’re going to struggle a little bit? Oh, so you’re starting out with scraps. Well, when I married your grandpa… and then the story of true poverty, starting out with nothing in a foreign country came out. I suppose, this is what you get being second generation American.   S

At the Crossroads: Discerning God’s Will By Cara E. Ruegg Available to purchase on my Etsy page I was about 16-years old when I not only decided I was going to become Catholic, but a Religious Sister. I even contacted the Franciscan Sisters in Kansas City, told them I wanted to be a “nun”. The Sister I was speaking to scurried along and got Mother Superior for me. She began discussing the process with me when I blurted out, “I’m not Catholic yet”. I wouldn’t be surprised if she mentally did a back-flip. They ended up sending me a Catechism in the mail and the location of a Latin Mass for me to attend.   My family was at first very shocked by this decision of mine, and I cannot say it met with much favor initially. They didn’t understand why, and it probably didn’t help that I added to the mix “I want to be a nun”. My poor, bewildered mother said to me during this pre-conversion time something along the lines of, “You are all or nothing. It can’t just be half-

Giuseppe Bezzuoli - St. Philomena Peace be to you, Filumena By Cara E. Ruegg Peace be to you, Philomena, Little martyr dressed in white Anchored to the heart of Christ Just a child when they tried To take away your glowing light Just a girl who was in love   With the God, creator above,   Who made your valiant heart   So generous and strong, Make me love Him too   Peace be to you, Philomena, Little princess with lilies in your hair Little virgin all so fair Pray His blood takes away All that’s stained, that’s sullied me. May He alone be that arrow of love That strikes me to my very core Alone may He be for whom I live and die For whom I lay down my life As a little lamb, on a slab of wood For love like you. Peace be to you, Philomena. Here are some of my items for sale in honor of St. Philomena: Philomena Prayer and Symbol on wooden canvas St. Philomena Cup Here are some clothing design

A lot of people looking into my relationship thought that I’d be in for a big surprise when I got married, reminding me that the daily chore of living together day in and day out with someone would bring out all of their flaws and that I had no idea what I was getting into since our courtship was so short (a little bit over a year, most of that long distance and four months or so of it with me uninterested). So far, I haven’t found that too terribly true. Not saying we both don’t have our flaws, but I saw his flaws a mile away and got a feel for them after date #3. Granted, we were both over the age of twenty-five so maybe that helped and he wasn’t the first man I dated, so that may have helped too since I knew the “warning signs” to look out for, we also didn’t get swept up in emotions initially (especially with it starting out completely platonic at first on my end) so there wasn’t any major blinders on that would’ve blurred serious red flags, and we prayerfully discerned be