Finding St. Anthony

St. Anthony of Padua was actually born in Lisbon, Portugal; but he died in Padua and is interred there at his basilica.  He was born Fernando Martins de Bulhoes, and came from a wealthy noble family in Lisbon.  Young Fernando was educated at fine parochial schools, and decided to become a priest.

Around 1219, Fernando befriended some Franciscan priests who eventually became killed for their Christian beliefs.  He was so touched by the heroic sacrifice of these men, that Fernando requested permission to join their order.  He then became known as Anthony, in honor of St. Anthony the Great, after whom his order's chapel was named.  Anthony had planned a pilgrimage to Morocco, but because of illness, he stayed in Italy and continued his work there.  He travelled all over Italy -- Sicily, Tuscany, and Romagna where he stayed for awhile, unable to travel because of his poor health.  It was there in the San Paolo hospice that he worked in the kitchen, learning, praying, and helping the other priests and comforting the patients.

His preaching abilities became known around the time when the Franciscans had hosted some Dominican priests as guests.  The Franciscans had expected the Dominicans to preside over their religious services, however they had come unprepared.  Anthony stepped up to deliver the sermon -- everyone was simply blown away by his powerful voice, charismatic presence, and the depth of feeling that his sermon contained.  His superior then assigned Anthony to preach in northern Italy, where he met the founder of the Franciscan order, St. Francis of Assisi.  He continued teaching and preaching in northern Italy and the south of France, until his passing in 1231.  He was 36 years old.  St. Anthony was canonized a year later, in 1232.

Saints are often exhumed after some time passes, and St. Anthony was no exception.  Although most of his body showed typical signs of decomposition, his tongue seemed to be in perfect shape as if it were still alive.  St. Anthony's tongue, jawbone, and vocal cords -- which many say represent the divine gift of his preaching abilities, are all still displayed in the basilica which was named after him.

Today, we associate St. Anthony with lost people, spirits, and objects.  He is known as the Patron Saint of the Lost, and can help us find things that we're having trouble finding.  The simplest prayer to St. Anthony that I know, which was used regularly in my childhood home, is: "Dear St. Anthony, please come around; something is lost and needs to be found."  Some people are even more informal with this saint, using this rhyme:  "Tony, Tony, come around; something's lost and can't be found."  Some may consider using a nickname for a saint to be rather disrespectful, but others have maintained that using such a casual form of address is a form of friendly affection.

Here's another prayer to restore lost objects; it's longer than the simple one-liners.
O blessed St. Anthony, the grace of God has made you a powerful advocate in all our needs and the patron for the restoring of things lost or stolen. I turn to you today with childlike love and deep confidence. You have helped countless children of God to find the things they have lost, material things, and, more importantly, the things of the spirit: faith, hope, and love. I come to you with confidence; help me in my present need. I recommend what I have lost to your care, in the hope that God will restore it to me, if it is His holy Will.


Photo credit: The second picture (statue) was taken by Violette79 of Flickr.  Thank you SO much for sharing under the Creative Commons license! :)

Speak Up & Save the Internet!

Millions of Americans oppose SOPA and PIPA because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the U.S.

Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.

The Senate will begin voting on January 24th. Please let them know how you feel. Sign this petition urging Congress to vote NO on PIPA and SOPA before it is too late.

Sign the petition here.  And be sure to use the widget below to call your representatives to urge them NOT to censor the internet!


To help even more, please share this blog entry (or the links) with anyone and everyone that you can -- repost in your blog!  Forward to your friends and family via email!  Share via Twitter and Facebook.  Do it now, before the internet is changed (for the worse) forever!

Thank you!!!

Meet Your Real Guardian Angel

"Make friends with the angels, who though invisible are always with you. Often invoke them, constantly praise them, and make good use of their help and assistance in all your temporal and spiritual affairs." -- St. Francis de Sales

Spirits are each given the task of watching over us and helping us throughout our time here on Earth: these are angels.  An angel is thought to be a spiritual being who acts as a messenger of God, assigned to assist someone in his or her life.  In Judaism, they are sometimes called "mal'akh elohim" (messengers of God).  The Islamic religion refers to them as Malaikah. The Catholic Church has long held a tradition of belief in these heavenly beings, although angels themselves are not necessarily affiliated with any specific religious belief.  We all have our own personal guardian angel whose job is to guide us, assist us, and to help us realize that doing good work is our duty here on Earth.

It could be said that an angel is a by-product of God, in much the same way that light emanates from a candle or lightbulb.  As soon as we are born, an angel is present near is, waiting to help and guide us.  They can understand our thoughts and feelings, and they can also hear our prayers whether silent or spoken.

All around us, we can find these angels.  They are everywhere; if we remember to ask for their help, our guardian angels will do their very best to assist us.  It is in an angel's nature to be a liason between the mortal realm and that of the immortal, the divine, and they can exist in both realms, serving as a connection between these worlds.  Although they cannot be seen by the human eye, angelic presence can often be felt.

Because angelic beings are of the divine, earthly concepts such as time are not relevant to them.  They can be wherever they choose, in any way that they choose, because they exist in multiple dimensions.  A popular belief is that angels can travel more quickly than the speed of light.  Every living thing -- each animal, each plant, each person -- has an angel present, watching over it and caring for it.

When you become open to the possibilities of communicating with your angel, you are choosing to become open to a richer spiritual experience, and the opportunity for great spiritual self-improvement.  Acknowledging angelic presences helps us to enhance our own intuition, and thus become more readily able to accept their communications.  Meditating can be beneficial toward helping us remove the negative obstacles inside us, which make inner peace and self-improvement difficult.  By meditating, one can find the tranquility, love, and happiness that angels wish us to possess.

When you are in need of help, you have only to speak up and ask your angelic presence for assistance. By connecting with your guardian angel, you are reaching out to a liason of God, and thus connecting with the divine presence through your angelic helper.  And, when you achieve a calm and composed state of mind, it is much easier to connect.

Life can be distracting, fast-paced, and so full of "important" things to do.  However, it is important for us to give ourselves those moments of tranquility and peace that our inner souls crave.  When having a quiet moment, realize that this is an excellent time to try connecting with your personal angelic presence.  If you are in need of help, feel free to ask your angel for some assistance -- an angel will do its best to help you no matter what, but when you ask, the connection is that much stronger and easier.  If you can remember a time when you've had a serious problem and there seemed to be no way out of it, yet somehow you were able to come to a solution at the last second, you may have your guardian angel to thank for that assistance.

How to Become More Psychic

Have you ever experienced occasions where something happened that seemed coincidental, yet you had a funny feeling that there might have been more to it than that? Perhaps your intuition was speaking to you... it’s possible that those feelings were the kernels of your own psychic potential, ready to be planted.

A person’s extrasensory powers are quite like the pieces of a puzzle. If you focus your attention on the puzzle as a whole, you can see the big picture every easily and clearly. However, if you zoom in, and focus only on a few pieces at a time, you will notice smaller details which may have escaped your attention before. This is very much the same way that your psychic ability can be cultivated; when you zoom in and take a look at the details on each small piece of any given puzzle, you will be picking up more information and insight from inside yourself as well.

There are also ways to cultivate use of your sixth sense in natural, healthy ways. The first way is to take the time to absorb the aspects of your other senses. Be sure to experience each and every part of the world around you -- what you see, hear, feel, smell, taste, and touch. If a feeling or image comes to your mind as you do this, be accepting of it,. Allow yourself to become immersed in these impressions. Try to focus on each image or feeling that comes to you; explore how these make you feel or what else they make you think about.

Another great way to enhance your psychic abilities is to take everyday activities, and learn how to do them in new and different ways. Try to concentrate less on completing those everyday goals, and more on flexing your mental muscles by doing those activities through unfamiliar or challenging new methods. Try something unusual and different -- this will stimulate your mind and allow you to use parts of it which may not be used to functioning in this way. It’s great mental exercise which can help your overall well-being as well as aid in the expansion of your extrasensory horizons.

And finally, another way to get those psychic juices flowing is to keep learning and be creative. Introduce yourself not just to new ways of doing your usual activities, but also experiencing new things in general. Theta waves, the brain waves that measure creativity and spirituality, can flow more prolifically when new and different scenarios are experienced. In order to harness the power of your theta waves, make it your business to absorb as much new information as you can. You’ll experience more creativity and clarity as well -- these things in and of themselves can skyrocket your psychic potential.

Remember that your brain is a muscle, and like all part of your body, needs exercise to function at its best. Here are a few more ideas to help you flex those mental muscles.

1. Meet new people. Talk to all sorts of new people, even if you believe that you may have nothing in common with them. Chances are that you’ll learn something interesting.

2. Travel. Feast your eyes on some new and unusual sights that you’ve never experienced.

3. Stimulate your palate with food that you’ve never tried before. A novel and exotic experience can be had on a plate right in front of you.

4. Listen to your instincts. Try to rise to the small challenges in life by way of your intuition or hunches. Trust yourself. You may just be right!

5. Chart a new course. Instead of going to work, school, or your favorite shopping area the same old way, try finding a new direction. Mixing up your routine will be freeing and creatively fruitful.

The development of your psychic abilities can be as natural as learning any new habits for your health. Just as the health of your physical body is important, so is the health of your mind. Each of these give you the skills to reach your highest capabilities, to forge ahead and to reach the fullest potential of your life. Cultivate your extrasensory abilities slowly and carefully, by just allowing yourself to experience each moment naturally through all of your senses. In this way, you will also gradually harness the power of that sixth sense as well.

The Fourteen Traits of a Serial Killer

My article on emotional vampires is one of the most commonly visited sections on this website.  Because I do specialize in relationships of all types -- romantic ones, family dynamics, friendships, and even workplace dynamics -- I am often consulted when someone is seeking answers about another person's mental stability.  Often people ask me if a friend or loved one might be dangerous or violent when angered or stressed.  (Regardless of my impressions of such people, I would always advise anyone to err on the side of caution if they even need to ask this question!)

Recently, I came across a documentary about such acts which caused me to wonder about how dangerous or violent people interact, undetected by most, with the public at large.  What makes someone commit such crimes against humanity?  How is such a person made (or born)?  While most emotional vampires are not murderers, and most abusers are not serial killers, a lot of the traits below are pretty major red flags.  I thought that this information would be interesting to my readers.

Traits of a Serial Killer:

1. Over 90 percent of serial killers are male. 

2. They tend to be intelligent, with IQ's in the "bright normal" range.

3. They do poorly in school, have trouble holding down jobs, and often work as unskilled laborers.

4. They tend to come from markedly unstable families.

5. As children, they are abandoned by their fathers and raised by domineering mothers.

6. Their families often have criminal, psychiatric and alcoholic histories.

7. They hate their fathers and mothers.

8. They are commonly abused as children — psychologically, physically and sexually. Often the abuse is by a family member.

9. Many serial killers spend time in institutions as children and have records of early psychiatric problems.

10. They have high rates of suicide attempts.

11. From an early age, many are intensely interested in voyeurism, fetishism, and sado-masochistic pornography.

12. More than 60 percent of serial killers wet their beds beyond the age of 12.

13. Many serial killers are fascinated with fire starting.

14. They are involved with sadistic activity or tormenting small creatures.


Source: Internal Association of Forensic Science, an article written by FBI Special Agent Robert K. Ressler

Positive Affirmations to Improve Your Life NOW!

I've been doing research on using affirmations to change the way that we think and feel about ourselves. Using them can help to eliminate the negative self-talk that some of us are constantly battling every day. 

When you use affirmations, it's important to say them as if what you want is already a reality of your life, rather than merely say what you hope will happen.  Quite honestly, I feel kind of silly talking about things that don't yet exist for me -- like better health, or more time to do what I need to do -- it's a bit strange saying things like "I enjoy perfect health" on those days when I wake up feeling like crap.  Nevertheless, I figured I'd give it a shot.  It certainly can't hurt, and maybe it actually will help me to feel better!  I also get a lot out of the ones that I truly feel each and every day, such as the first one in the video: "My life is full of things to enjoy and appreciate."  Who can't agree with that one? 

Here are a few affirmations that I've come up with, and wanted to share with you; see if you can find a good one to try regularly. Also, you've gotta love that adorable little can-can girl in the background!  I added a rainbow of colors to spice up the vintage black and white footage.  Can you believe that this was recorded over a hundred years ago?  She's looking mighty fine for her age. ;)

I don't just want you to sit there passively, reading the affirmation on the screen.  Say each one out loud; feel them.  Heck, SHOUT THEM if you feel the spirit moving you.  And if you have any affirmations that you particularly enjoy using, feel free to leave me some comments about them! Thanks!

Twitter Help Badges!

I got my Twitter account a couple of months ago, but haven't really used it much.  During the past 2 weeks, though, I've been logging on each night and scanning the world's tweets for people in need of help -- questions that need answers, advice that is sought... and sometimes, if I pick up some good energy, I will tweet back with a constructive and positive answer.  I've gained about 15 followers in the last few weeks alone, mostly people who enjoy hearing what I have to say or those who have had a nice chat with me.  It feels good to actually CONNECT with those who follow me, or people who are just being conversational.  I don't want a BS Twitter account with a bunch of people never hear from me personally.  (I've also enjoyed doing my recent weekend horoscope.  Maybe I'll start making it a weekly thing if I have time, who knows?)

Anyway... today, I'm so excited to announce that I've been awarded the Twithelp "Bronze Helper Badge" for my recent Twitter interactions!  Yeah! :)

I've always felt that helping others was its own reward, and I still do.  But nevertheless, I still appreciate the recognition.  Thanks, @Twithelpme and @Twithelpbot! :)

When I tweeted my badge success, I earned another one for using the help app.  Feels a tiny bit like a "certificate of participation," but what the heck... I've earned it, so here it is! :)

Here's my page on Twithelp.me for those of you who are interested.  I look forward to helping other people, and I have to admit, it would be nice to collect some badges along the way.  But giving assistance is also pretty awesome in and of itself. :)