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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Another style
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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:
Special EWTN novena bracelet