Don’t miss the consultation I posted last night! The baby’s arriving next week!

As this month of Our Lady winds to a close, I wanted to share this happy story with you all:

I’ve written before about my sister Molly (whose first name is a Mary variant, and whose middle name is Anne — Sancta Nomina’s two special-est ladies!) — you can read the story of her stillbirth and miraculous life here, and see photos of her participation in the beatification ceremony for Bl. Solanus Casey here (and swipe right). As noted in the article at that first link, she works at our parish school, which is the perfect place for her — it’s safe and sweet, and all the kids know her and get excited when they see her out of school, like at the grocery store (back when we all used to see each other at places like the grocery store).

The May Crowning at school is always done by the second graders, just a couple weeks after they receive their First Holy Communion. They wear their First Communion clothes to school, participate in the May Crowning, have a little reception hosted by the third grade parents, and are dismissed early from school on that day. It’s so special! It was so sad for our school that we couldn’t have the May Crowning in the same way this year! But our principal and pastor were determined to have a May Crowning anyway, and they asked Molly to be the one to crown Our Lady.

Oh my. Molly was totally wrecked over this request — in the best way! When she was telling me about it, she was all choked up and emotional over how this was the first time in her life she’d ever been given this honor. Lucky girl! May we always be so thrilled to love Our Lady! Happy Friday to you all!

Molly crowning Our Lady, and a better photo of her from Bl. Solanus’ beatification ceremony <3🌹

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon — perfect for expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady!