Tag Archives: pregnancy

History of my Signature Novena Bracelets

- Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle
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I thought I would tell you the history of my “Signature” nine-bead design for my “Novena Bracelets.”

First of all, it started with a perplexing pregnancy for my daughter. I wrote my book Prayerfully Expecting: A Nine Month Novena for Mothers To Be during my own precarious pregnancy in which I was placed on complete bed rest.

I had a huge hemorrhage in my uterus and a serious heart condition. My doctor didn’t think my baby would make it. I had lost three babies earlier on by miscarriage. It would be a trial of patience and commitment to bed rest.

Though it was a scary and difficult time, I feel God truly blessed me with much inspiration because very soon into my pregnancy, while on bedrest, I became deeply inspired to envision a pregnancy as a beautiful nine month novena of prayer as I awaited the birth of my unborn baby.

I prayed fervently and hoped for the very best. I even got word to my friend Mother Teresa to request her special prayers. She prayed for my baby and me and also sent to me a blessed Miraculous Medal which I wear to this day. She told me to count on our Blessed Mother and pray a simple prayer: “Mary, Mother of Jesus, be Mother to me now.”

As I prayed and waited…I also wanted to share my new inspiration of seeing a pregnancy as a nine-month novena of prayer and I desired to offer a kind of a prayer journal to other expectant mothers. I wanted to help them reflect upon their holy time of waiting, all the while as they prayed and grew in holiness.

So, I put pen to paper (literally, since I did not own a typewriter or computer at the time) and I continued to write down all of the inspiration that was stirring in my heart. These scraps of paper would be stored away in a cardboard box for “later on.”

Later on, in God’s Divine plan, I would put it all together in manuscript form and Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta would end up writing the Foreword to my book. She had also encouraged me to continue to write for mothers and expectant mothers.

Women all around the world are using my book Prayerfully Expecting to create a living novena of prayer throughout their pregnancies.

History of Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle's Signature Novena Bracelets

Here is an article written in 2007 about my book that you might find interesting.

Novena Prayer Bracelets!

“Prayerfully Expecting” Novena Bracelets!

During the season of Advent 2015, I felt very inspired to create Novena bracelets to celebrate the sanctity of human life, as well as to have a tangible means to pray for it.

A few examples below:

The Sanctity of Human Life

These novena prayer bracelets serve many purposes. I have made each bracelet with nine beads to symbolize nine months of pregnancy. The number nine is very significant in praying a novena of prayer. As well, there are nine choirs of Angels. With regard to the sanctity of human life, the bracelet will be a visual reminder to pray a novena for your own pregnancy, for your daughter, granddaughter, godchild, daughter-in-law, or niece’s pregnancy, to pray to conceive a child, to pray to adopt a child, to pray for your own children and grandchildren, and to pray for every pregnancy to result in a live birth and for the end to abortion.

I pray as I create each novena bracelet. Each bracelet is crafted with an attached crucifix, a Miraculous Medal, and most of them will also contain a pregnancy saint’s medal. It will be shipped to you in an attractive box with prayer cards inside. I encourage you to get your bracelet blessed so that it may serve as a blessed sacramental.

You will see some of the first “Prayerfully Expecting” Novena bracelets at my bracelet shop. I have added more over the years. More photos of the Novena bracelets will be regularly added to my “Prayerfully Expecting” shop as I create them. I will also be adding a variety of saint medals to the bracelets.

Other Kinds of Novena Bracelets

After awhile, I began designing and creating an assortment of Novena Prayer Bracelets, always with my signature “nine-bead” design to represent a Novena of Prayer, and not ten beads as are in a chaplet or decade. Each bracelet comes with a prayer card to use while praying a Novena of Prayer.

I also have designed some ten-bead Prayer Bracelets when it was most appropriate to use ten beads for the particular devotion. That said, I also have a seven-bead design which is for the “Seven Sorrows of Mary” devotion. You can see these designs at my Bracelet Shop. I started another website for my bracelets and creations but I need t have some time to finish it! 🙂

Just a few examples are below:

More Information and Many Designs Available

You can go to my Bracelet Shop on this website to learn more and see the various designs. You can also see other designs on other pages. For instance, my “Fatima Five First Saturday” Bracelets are here. And “Inspiring Word Bracelets” are here. I also do custom design bracelets and you can see information for that on my “Bracelet Shop” page.

In addition, I will mention that I have designed several Novena Bracelets for EWTN Religious Catalogue. You can see them on their website.

Bundle of LOVE!

- Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle
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My newest book “Prayerfully Waiting” is for the “expectant” Grandmother. It can be paired with my “Prayerfully Expecting” book which is for the expectant Mom! You can learn more about these books here.

Add a gorgeous “Prayerfully Hoping and Expecting Novena Bracelet” for the expectant Mom to the mix and you will have some pretty happy people prayerfully awaiting the birth of a precious little someone. 

See others bracelet designs here.

All three (2 books and 1 bracelet) together would normally be $75.97. Now, on sale in a BUNDLE for only $69.97. 

If you’d prefer another bracelet design (or different color beads or kind of medal), simply email me at: dmcoboyle@aol.com to request a different bracelet as part of this “Bundle of Love.”

Some other choices of medals are: St. Anne (as shown), St. Gerard Majella, Holy Family, Guardian Angel, St. Michael, Mother Teresa, St. Therese, Blessed Mother (Guadalupe, Fatima, or Lourdes).

Exciting News–My Upcoming Book!

- Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle
4

On this day–Holy Thursday, I will reveal a big surprise! I have not breathed a word about this thus far. But, I will right now! The wonderful news is that my book Prayerfully Waiting: A Grandmother’s Prayer Journal will release on October 13th! It is a prayer journal for Grandmothers to help them to pray for their unborn grandchildren!

A Brief Description

A grandmother’s prayers are of significant importance through every age and stage of a grandchild’s development! These prayers are amazing and lovely blessings that can powerfully nurture and help shape a grandchild’s conscience and future life! It is so important to recognize the great gift and role grandparents have in praying for grandchildren in utero.
 
This grandmother’s prayer journal offers a delightful and unparalleled opportunity to not merely sit back and wait for the wondrous arrival, but instead, to use the time wisely by prayerfully waiting for your grandchild throughout what can be a meaningful and powerful nine-month novena of prayer.
 
Month-by-month, inspired with holy insights, you will learn, discover, and note the development of your precious “grand-blessing.” Spaces are provided for you to personalize this special unborn baby book, as well as lovingly record your thoughts and prayers as you pray for your grandchild’s first nine months of life.
 
From beginning to end, you’ll be partnering with St. Anne, the grandmother of Jesus, to swaddle your unborn grandchild with prayer. You’ll journey with Mother Mary, and all the saints, to prayerfully prepare for the little one’s birth.

A Personal Note

As a mother of five, and now a proud grandmother, I couldn’t help but write this book for grandmothers who are awaiting the birth of their precious grandchild. Many years ago when I was on complete bedrest for a precarious pregnancy and when my doctor didn’t think my baby would survive, I prayed and pondered the amazing significance of a nine-month waiting period while our unborn babies are nourished by our love and life, nestled inside our wombs. During that time of staying still and earnestly prayerfully waiting, I was deeply inspired to write “Prayerfully Expecting: A Nine-Month Novena for Mothers to Be” for expectant mothers. My dear friend Mother Teresa wrote the Foreword! Now, as a grandmother, I am excited to offer this beautiful prayer journal for the “expectant” grandmother whose period of waiting can become transformed into an amazing novena of love while her heartfelt meaningful prayers are benefiting her unborn grandchild and her own soul as well. May God bless every grandmother and grandchild and nurture their relationship–even as early as from their conception!

Early Praise for Prayerfully Waiting

Grandparents become grandparents as soon as their grandchildren begin to exist. How appropriate it is, therefore, to get to know more about your grandchild during his or her journey of growth in the womb – and especially to accompany that knowledge with prayer! Prayerfully Waiting will help you begin your lifelong relationship with your new grandchild!

—Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life

With its many and varied prayers, wisdom from Mother Church, and space to journal and create memories, Prayerfully Waiting is a lovely, gentle companion for the grandmother-to-be. I plan to use it myself when I’m prayerfully waiting for my first grandchild! 

—Karen Edmisten, author of After Miscarriage and Deathbed Conversions.

As I flipped through the pages of Prayerfully Waiting, I recognized the beauty it offers in drawing families across generations closer together. As a mother prepares to welcome her newborn child, the grandmother can also prepare for her role –  through prayer and reflection. What a blessing for a grandchild to receive so many graces from prayer before even being born! A new life is worth celebrating and Prayerfully Waiting reflects that it’s worth celebrating in multiple family generations.

–Catherine Hadro, Host of EWTN Pro-Life Weekly

This is a blessed book and a brilliant idea. Combining information on the baby in the womb’s developments with prayer to the Blessed Mother, St. Anne and other saints, Prayerfully Waiting is both practical and spiritual. I am a grandmother of four and I know I will be referring to this book often.

—Janet Morana, Executive Director, Priests for Life, Author of Recall Abortion 

And, Now, the Cover REVEAL!

You can PRE-ORDER your autographed copy here! It sells for $15.99 plus shipping. I suggest purchasing a couple of copies to have on hand to gift to someone when they are expecting a grandchild. It is a great resource for any stage of the pregnancy (if I may say so myself!). Though, I believe it will be extra beneficial to start reading the month-by-month book just as soon as possible for praying for the unborn grandchild.

Here is the Amazon listing. Keep in mind that Amazon is very behind with book orders and are only selling essential items due to the coronavirus.

Donna-Marie’s Novena Bracelet on EWTN Religious Catalogue

- Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle
2

My Prayerfully Hoping & Expecting Novena Bracelet is on EWTN’s Religious Catalogue. I designed a Pro-Life “Bracelet For Life” exclusively for EWTN. You can learn about it and view the video right here. Just push the little marker to the 4:43 minute mark. It airs from the 4:43 mark to 7:31. Johnnette Benkovic displays the bracelet I designed for EWTN.

I hope you enjoy it!

NEW wrap style NOVENA bracelets by Donna-Marie

- Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle
4

I have created a new wrap style bracelet which you can see below. The difference between the WRAP style and the classic clasp bracelets are the way in which the bracelet fits around the wrist. There is less worry about a proper fit with the wrap style.

Here are a couple of new military styles in the NEW WRAP bracelet, as well as two classic (non-military style) “Prayerfully Expecting & Hoping” novena bracelets shown first with turquoise hearts and accenting beads in the NEW WRAP style. Secondly, with pink pearl beads and lovely tiny white pearl beads with silver accents.

You can see the history of these bracelets here and also see purchasing information. Every bracelet is comprised with nine major beads to symbolize a novena of prayer, a pregnancy representing human life, as well as the nine choirs of Angels.

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Prayerfully Hoping & Expecting

- Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle
2

I am sharing some wonderful news. First of all, I have bundled my book Prayerfully Expecting: A Nine Month Novena for Mothers To Be with the very new Prayerfully Hoping & Expecting Novena Bracelets. You can see that in this link on my website. The two bundled together make a lovely gift for the expectant Mom or for one who hopes to be expecting someday. But, the novena bracelet is for any woman. Please read on to see why.

Prayerfully_Expecting_Bracelet

Here’s a little about my book which, by the way,  dear Blessed Mother Teresa wrote the foreword to.

This beautifully crafted book is a reflection guide, keepsake, and prayer journal that offers inspiration for each month of pregnancy in the tradition of the popular nine-day prayer, the Novena.
     Your feet are swollen, your hormones are a mess, and you still crave too much ice cream. For every mother-to-be, the nine months of pregnancy can be demanding. Competing with the joy of anticipation is the frustration of bodily pain and limitation. In this intimate book, Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle invites pregnant women everywhere to see their pregnancy not as a burden but as a living prayer to God. Connecting the nine months of pregnancy with the nine-part novena prayer tradition known to Catholics everywhere, Donna Marie shows how each month of pregnancy connects the mother to the great Catholic saints and teachers. Alongside the devotional and the catechetical helps are pointed references to the development of the child in the womb as the months of pregnancy progress. Includes a foreword by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and an Apostolic Blessing from Pope John Paul II.
Here is an endorsement:
A different kind of pregnancy journal. Imbued as it is with Scripture, exhortations from John Paul the Great, wisdom from Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, and both traditional and original prayers, it steeps expectant mothers in an atmosphere of holiness, reminding them that what they are experiencing is sacred.~Karen Edmisten
Here is a little background about writing this book:

I wrote this book Prayerfully Expecting: A Nine Month Novena for Mothers To Be during my own precarious pregnancy in which I was placed on complete bed rest. Very soon into my pregnancy I became deeply inspired to envision a pregnancy as a beautiful nine month novena of prayer as I awaited the birth of my unborn baby.

I wanted to share that inspiration and offer a kind of a prayer journal to other expectant mothers that could help them reflect upon their holy time of waiting, all the while as they pray and grow in holiness.

So, I put pen to paper (literally, since I did not own a typewriter or computer at the time) and I continued to write down all of the inspiration that was stirring in my heart. In God’s Divine plan, Blessed Mother Teresa would write the Foreword to this book. She had also encouraged me to continue to write for mothers and expectant mothers.

Women all around the world are using Prayerfully Expecting to create a living novena of prayer throughout their pregnancies.

 

Here is a little explanation about my inspiration this past Advent in which I created Prayerfully Hoping & Expecting Novena Prayer bracelets:

During the season of Advent 2015, I felt very inspired to create these novena bracelets to celebrate the sanctity of human life as well as to have a tangible means to pray for it.

IMG_2333

one of the styles

As I mentioned above, these novena prayer bracelets serve many purposes. I have made each bracelet with nine beads to symbolize nine months of pregnancy. The number nine is also very significant in praying a novena of prayer. The bracelet will be a visual reminder to pray a novena for your own pregnancy, for your daughter, granddaughter, godchild, daughter-in-law, or niece’s pregnancy, and so on. It can be used to pray to conceive a child, to pray to adopt a child, to pray for your own children and grandchildren, and to pray for every pregnancy to result in a live birth and for the end to abortion.

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Another style

I pray as I create each novena bracelet. Each bracelet will be constructed with an attached crucifix, Miraculous Medal, and most of them will also contain a pregnancy saint’s medal. It will be shipped to you in an attractive box with prayer cards inside. I encourage you to get your bracelet blessed so that it may serve as a blessed sacramental.

IMG_2339

Another style

***

You can see much more about the book and the newly created and handmade (by Yours Truly!) novena bracelets (including more styles) here. Hopefully, the information on the page will answer all of your questions.

In addition, I have more great news! The EWTN Religious Catalogue is carrying my bracelets. I have designed a special one that is exclusive to EWTN. You can see the information for ordering right here at the EWTN Religious Catalogue.

Here is an image of the special EWTN bracelet:

Bracelet_EWTN

Special EWTN novena bracelet

 

Exciting news about “Prayerfully Expecting” Novena Bracelets!

- Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle
4

During this season of Advent, I felt very inspired to create these novena bracelets to celebrate the sanctity of human life as well as to have a tangible means to pray for it.

These novena prayer bracelets serve many purposes. I have made each bracelet with nine beads to symbolize nine months of pregnancy. The number nine is very significant in praying a novena of prayer. The bracelet will be a visual reminder to pray a novena for your own pregnancy, for your daughter’s, granddaughter’s, godchild’s, or niece’s pregnancy, or to pray to conceive a child, to pray to adopt a child, to pray for your own children and grandchildren, and to pray for every pregnancy to result in a live birth and for the end to abortion.

As I create and craft each novena bracelet, I pray for whoever will end up wearing the bracelet and for all unborn babies. Each bracelet will be constructed with an attached crucifix, Miraculous Medal, and most of them will also contain a pregnancy saint’s medal. It will be shipped to you in an attractive box with prayer cards inside. I encourage you to get your bracelet blessed so that it may serve as a blessed sacramental.

A portion of all proceeds will be donated to a local pregnancy organization to help babies and unwed mothers.

Here’s just one of the “Prayerfully Expecting” Novena Bracelets for sale:

Bracelet_Antique

You can see many more designs and all of the information about the bracelets here on the “Prayerfully Expecting” page of this website.