Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary...

I love this time of year for many reasons. I love the crispness to the air, I love the food (pumpkins and cider!), and I love the anticipation of the coming holiday season. And I also love the liturgical calendar :) The Catholic Librarian is a bit of a nerd, and proud of it. The end of September brings us the feasts of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, the Guardian Angels, and St. Therese of Lisieux. Today is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Similar to all things that I enjoy in my life, I obsess about rosary beads. I love, collect, and organize my rosaries fastidiously. I have car rosaries that I keep in my center console. Some that are wood and threaded with a heavy cord that I can keep in my pocket without those blasted little links breaking all the time. Extra pretty ones I keep on my dresser. A pair by my side of the bed for nighttime praying. A pair hanging from the rearview mirror of my car. I have many, many sets of rosary beads. Honestly, the exclusive time that I pray it these days is in the car. And I enjoy it. I'm a librarian - I like to multi-task :) It's very soothing, particularly in the morning while on my way to work. And let's face it, Our Lady -she was a multi-tasker. She understands. She had a lot going on in her life. She was married, had a home to take care of, and quite the ambitious and hard-to-manage son to raise. Whenever I read now the description of Jesus getting lost on that trip and then re-found in the Temple, I cringe. He obviously had no idea how much he would worry his mother :)

So, I thought of her last night when Hank took an hour and a half to fall asleep. Remember, Mike or I have to be *in his room* *rubbing his back* for him to fall asleep these days. And again when Hank wandered into our bedroom at 1 am, threw a temper tantrum, and refused to go back to sleep. And again when Mike tried to soothe him back to sleep and Hank *demanded* that mommy do it instead.

I especially enjoy reading about the annunciation in the Gospel of Luke. An angel appears to Mary and tells her that she will bear the son of God. Although she's a lot more graceful and articulate in her delivery, she pretty much said "what on earth are you talking about? I think you must be terribly confused about how babies are made." But despite God's unconventional and mysterious instructions, she agrees to do it, because it is His will. I love her.

I'm trying a lot more these days to emulate Our Lady. She's like us - we're all working women in some way; primarily, in the most simple of our daily tasks.