Congratulations to the winners of the St. Anne giveaway: Kristen, Samantha, Anna, Thalita, and Anne!! I emailed you all — please let me know if you didn’t get it!

Thank you to all who entered! If you’d still like one of these beautiful prints (available in a variety of sizes), you can purchase one at Delphina Rose Art. And don’t forget that Rebecca has generously added a $2.00 off coupon code for any order over $2.00 for all Sancta Nomina readers, which you can use for any coloring page of your choosing (they’re $2.00 each) — they’re all gorgeous! Lots of our favorite Saints, including one of the Immaculate Conception (St. Anne and the child Mary)! The coupon code is sanctanomina, and it’s valid through August 7. (Rebecca is also running a Summer Coloring Contest for all ages, starting today! Go check it out!)

Today is my mom’s birthday AND the feast of Bl. Solanus Casey — it would be such a gift if you would say a prayer for my mom, and if you could invoke Bl. Solanus’ intercession for her, all the better! This is what I wrote on Instagram at the end of the several photos I posted during Bl. Solanus’ beatification Mass, which was attended by my parents and my sister (and my sister was part of the procession):

“Today was all about #BlessedSolanusCasey, and for my family it was also about my sister, but a shout-out to my mom @irishnannie is a must: she painstakingly compiled all the information pertaining to the miracle of my sister’s life, gathering materials from thirty three years ago from her own notes and hospital records; she tracked down the neonatologist who cared for my infant sister and got him on board (it didn’t take much convincing! And he’s not even Catholic!); she secured the enthusiastic support of our bishop; she kept up continuous communications with the vice postulator; and most of all, she has never ever wavered in her conviction that her baby’s life was given back through Fr. Solanus’ intercession. So I was so happy for her that this beautiful Irish music was played during the Mass, as a nod to Fr. Solanus’ Irish heritage (my mom’s a first generation Irish-American and prouder than proud of it!) AND that his feast day has been set as July 30 — which just happens to be Mom’s birthday. #MollyandFrSolanus #FrSolanusCasey @albanydiocese“

I was amazed at God’s generosity in allowing Mom’s birthday to be chosen as Bl. Solanus’ feast, after all her unwavering faith and focused hard work in pulling together the necessary materials to submit my sister’s story to his cause for beatification. (A different miracle was accepted as the required miracle for Fr. Solanus’ to be beatified, but my sister was invited to be part of the procession because of her special connection to this special priest. I recently read this biography of him, which I highly recommend.) (Fr. Solanus died on July 31, so it’s a truly unexpected gift that his feast day was set for the day before.)

So many things to celebrate today! I hope you all have a great day!!

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!