Lord, hear my voice.

We exist from the moment of conception, not the moment of birth. Today I am 22 years and 9 months old. Our system of dating age needs to change.

My roommates decorated my door with streamers.

But there is an even better thing to celebrate today, and that would be the Guardian Angels!

"Angel of God, my Guardian dear..."

"Even though we are children and have a long, a very long and dangerous way to go, with such protectors what have we to fear? They who keep us in all our ways cannot be overpowered or led astray, much less lead us astray. They are loyal, prudent, powerful. Why then are we afraid? We have only to follow them, stay close to them, and we shall dwell under the protection of God's angels." St. Bernard on Guardian Angles

"See, I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way to the place I have prepared. Be attentive to him and heed his voice. " Exodus 23:20-21a

(Thanks to my friend "C" for the quotes!)

Let me do as I said I would and explain why I titled my blog "Lord, hear my voice." As you probably noticed, my URL address is in Latin. "Domine, exaudi vocem meam." This phrase is part of a beautiful psalm-prayer of the Church, Psalm 129/130 (depending on which translation you use).

This psalm is traditionally known as the De profundis. It is "a prayer of a sinner, trusting in the mercies of God." It is the sixth penitential psalm.

The Psalm begins: Translation:
"De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine. "Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord.
Domine, exaudi vocem meam. Lord, hear my voice.
Fiant aures tuae intendentes, Let thy ears be attentive
in vocem deprecationis meae." to the voice of my pleading."

Why did I choose this for my title? Quite simply, because it is very dear to me and it applies directly to my life. I am a sinner. I need God to listen to my cries. Of course He listens all the time, but I'm sure you know that sometimes it seems like He isn't paying any attention at all. This psalm shows our humanity in that we are not always able to sense or even trust that God is lovingly lending His ears to our pleading voices.

At certain points in everyone's lives, we reach rock bottom. Some of us hit that point more than once. This psalm was for me the very cry of my heart when I was in that place. Deep down, in the darkness, in the depths of despair, I cried to God. I begged Him to hear me, and to pay attention to my desolation. I wasn't able to feel Him because the depths of desolation were so deep. God heard me.

What He did next was unexpected. He sent me my Mother. Rather, our Mother. Sometimes children just need their mommy, and He knew she was exactly who I could cling to. A Mother's embrace is unparalleled, and oh, how she held me. I prayed this prayer often:

Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae; Hail, holy Queen, mother of mercy;
vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve. our life, our sweetness, and our hope.
Ad te clamamus to thee do we cry
exsules filii Hevae. poor banished children of Eve
Ad te suspiramus to thee do we send up our sighs
gementes et flentes mourning and weeping
in hac lacrimarum valle. in this valley of tears.

And I knew I would never be alone. Not only did I have Jesus, but now I knew I had my Mother holding my hand every step of this life. No matter if we are laughing, mourning, singing, or weeping, our Mother remains at our side with Jesus. Knowing this healed me.

There's always more that could be said, but I think that suffices.

Now on to the family pictures! I'm a bit imprudent still, so there are dozens to behold.