Memorare
“Cecelia, My Love”
This week marks 37 years since my Great Grandma Ceil passed away. She was my mother’s mother’s mother, and I never got to meet her myself. What I know of her, I know through stories.
I know she grew up in Wisconsin, I know she faced some terrible hardships. She supported her family in every way she could, with siblings who struggled with alcoholism and mental health. She married my Great Grandpa Francis when she was 23, a little on the later side for the 1920s. And they eventually landed in Evansville, IN, where life became easier.
I know her homemade catsup recipe is a masterpiece unlike anything else I’ve ever tasted. And that when my mom makes it, the whole house smells like vinegar for days. I know the feeling of dough on my butter-covered fingers when I bake her rolls at Thanksgiving.
I know how happy my aunts look when they talk about Grandma Ceil and Grandpa Francis — how playful he was, how much he loved her. How they’d steal kisses from each other even into their old age.
And I know the prayer of Memorare — a Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary that Great Grandma Ceil passed down to her daughter, who passed it down to her daughter, who passed it down to me.
Though I can’t say for sure, I imagine my faith path is much different than hers. But I still hold the prayer in my heart. I still speak it with my lips.
Because it’s never really been about the words themselves but the energy they carry — the holy Love of a Mother, especially in times of need.
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“Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.”
Clover Leaf Rolls Recipe
Smother in honey butter if you know what’s good for you.
Ingredients
1/2 cup salted butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup warm water
2 packages dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 eggs
6-7 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
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“Should’ve kept every grocery store receipt”
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“We are all, whether we know it or not, sitting on the laps of the dead — and they are ready to amaze us with their tricks and wonders. They will show us the numbers on the cards before we turn them over. They will find the unexpected coins behind our ears and place them in our hands. Most of all, they will remind us that everything that goes away always comes back.”
Excited to be joining Thunder Moon Collective’s monthly Wake up! Woodland market with my baked goods beginning May 31st from 10AM-2PM!
