New Beginnings

I have so much on my heart right now concerning this blog that it's a little overwhelming. But I thought an update was due concerning what I'm planning to do with this online space. I have decided after much thought to take down this blog. I have loved sharing my heart with you on here this past year, truly. However it is time for a new beginning. I will not be posting on here nor on my Youtube channel any longer, but on my other blog Miss Abbey Noelle. It's time for me to grow in my faith and to be more authentic online. If you would like to keep up with my life + little thoughts, I would love for you to follow me over there. I'm so excited for this new beginning. 

With much love,

Abbey 

Life is Precious

As I was scrolling on my phone casually looking at postings of friends and loved ones that make up my Facebook feed, I stumbled across a post from a blogger I follow. Her name is Emily, and I doubt she'll ever read this, but her husband was diagnosed with cancer last year, Of course the news was terrible, and my heart went out to their young family, But this update was different, It wasn't about his ongoing treatments or joyous family pictures like I so love to see. It was an update about her husband, but not his treatments. They found out a week ago that his cancer has grown to the point where they cannot possibly keep on giving treatment. I only got through half of her post before I broke down sobbing for this family I don't even know personally. But feel that I have a connection with them because of the beautifully honest + bittersweet posts Emily posts on her blog.

I don't mean for this to be a depressing post. I know my last post was distracted and a bit messy, but I have this strong desire to write despite all of that. I'm going to stop fretting about if my grammar is perfect, or if anything I'm talking about makes sense. I might make sure I capitalize because lets be honest, it'll drive me nuts if I don't. So I'm just going to write what is on my heart. You're more than welcome to read what I have to say, and that is this:

Life is so incredibly precious. Yes, there is a time when God can and will call you home to heaven, He might call you home to Him when you're eighty years old, thirty, or even tomorrow. It's important not to see it as a death sentence, but rather as a comfort. You should see it as a comfort because you know that as long as you love Christ with your entire heart and trust that He has everything under control, you'll be okay. You don't need to worry about when you're going to die or even how it'll happen. You're alive today! Breathing with a beating heart. That in itself is an incredible gift. I've been thinking about it to myself the last couple of weeks, but the news I mentioned in the beginning of this post was a huge realization for me. I've been trying to figure out what I've been doing with my life, If I was living it out like I should be, and honestly, I haven't been. Sure, I've been trying. I've been trying really hard to pray more and give myself more completely to God, but it hasn't been enough. I know I'm not perfect and its impossible to be so, but I can do so much more + that starts tonight. Life can be short and it's beautiful that way, but please don't waste it. Together, no matter how old you are or what gender, we can create a better tomorrow. Not only for ourselves, but for other people too. Don't hesitate to help people + love them with all that you have. No matter if they hate you, are total a stranger to you, or even if it's someone you're incredibly close with, go be the light of Christ you were born to be.

Love,

Abbey

You Were Created for Greatness

You were created for greatness. Yeah, you! If you have ever felt insignificant or like a complete and utter failure, I know how you feel. Honestly, it's so easy for us to look at ourselves and see all the bad and to reminds ourselves of all of the times we have failed. To focus on everything that's going wrong in our lives. But listen. God doesn't expect us to be perfect, quite honestly He knows it isn't possible. He only asks that we give our hearts totally and completely to Him, so He may make something beautiful + wonderful out of us. He has the key, we only need to allow Him to unlock us. Each and every person ever born has a purpose. Each and every person has worth beyond measure + is loved so perfectly by God. So instead of dwelling on whatever it is that you're struggling with right now and how you can't figure out how to change or deal with it, offer it up to Christ. He will give you the grace to persevere through your crosses, He will give you the graces to become a saint, and He will give you the graces to live a holier + more meaningful life. So this post might be short. And it might be a little bit scattered, but if you only get one thing from reading my post it's this:

Give your heart to Jesus. He wont take all your sorrows away, but He will help you through them. You are created for greatness, don't forget it.

Your sister in Christ,

Abbey

My Veiling Journey

I can't exactly remember the precise day I first wore a chapel veil (also widely known as a mantilla) but I do know my "veiling journey" as I like to call it started off a bit rocky. First off, let me express that I've never been one to embrace the unknown. I like dreaming of what the future may hold, pondering on how a conversation could go, and so forth. I get frightened when I'm not certain how a change in my life will go, especially a drastic one. I find it hard to dream how it'll go because I'm so caught up in worry. So when my father announced that we were going to begin attending a new parish, I wasn't very fond of the idea. Looking back, I'm grateful that he made this important decision for his family. St. Peter and Paul where we had been previously attending was a nice church but however, it was not as traditional as we would personally prefer. So we started attending Our Lady of Ransom, a simple little church in a even smaller town. The very special thing about this church was that the mass was said in the Extraordinary Form every Sunday and the priest was a sweet old man, who knew each of us by name.

 If you didn't already know, I'm extroverted and extremely so! I adore being around people. So moving to a new parish and leaving people I was just starting to know was tough, but the fact that our new congregation was extremely small and mostly comprised of my family, was even tougher. Add to that experiencing a totally new form of the mass, and you've got one very confused girl who felt completely out of place. To be clear, I didn't always feel miserable. With time I began to adjust to both my new surroundings and to the mass. Looking back, I wouldn't trade that experience for the world. I learned so much, even if I wasn't fully aware of the significant lessons God was placing into my heart. During the first couple of weeks attending, my dad encouraged his girls to wear veils. He has always ultimately left the decision to us, but we didn't need much convincing. The other women there wore them so we figured we'd do the same. Fast forward to a year or two later, due to our priest being elderly, he unfortunately had to retire. So we started attending what is my current parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. I've been to a few Latin Masses since then, and because I previously have experienced the TLM I can appreciate it all the more and I look forward to every opportunity to attend one with gusto. It truly is a beautifully serene experience.

Traditionally, white or light colored veils are worn by unmarried women and dark colored or black veils are typically worn by married women. I started out wearing white by personal preference, until awhile later and begun alternating between the two colors. I like white as it plainly signifies purity + youth, and black simply because it's very sophisticated + classic. Since Vatican II came about ladies aren't required to cover their heads at mass anymore, which is a shame. Although I'm almost thankful for it, as shocking as that may sound. We women shouldn't be forced to cover our heads in a modest manner, we should be encouraged to do so. It's absolutely inspiring to see other women choosing to veil, especially young women like myself!

Seeing the little whisper of heaven in mass is the most stunning, humbling thing you will ever experience here on earth. We cover what is sacred...what is important. The tabernacle plus the alter are veiled in cloth, and even the priest and alter servers are veiled in a way. Veiling is way us girls can show total submission to God in modesty, and a visual symbol that you believe fully that Christ is surely present in the mass. So as I mentioned in the beginning, my veiling journey began a little rocky. I honestly only wore my veil whenever I went to a mass the Extraordinary Form. Why? I felt self-conscious. Instead of thinking about how lovely I looked to God, I worried what other people might say and think about me which was too hard for me to swallow at the time. So despite now attending a Novus Ordo regularly, I wear my mantilla at every mass. I swallowed my pride, and it felt so liberating to so do. Without my veil I feel bare, which is a huge transformation from what I used to feel. I've now worn it the past year or so with little to no hesitation and I couldn't love it more.

Thank you for taking the time to read such a lengthy post, it feels wonderful to share my story which has been on my heart and mind for what feels like a very long time. God bless, and feel free to ask any questions below concerning veiling, I promise I will do my best to answer them.

The Sassy Catholic Meets Chris Stefanick!

Big news.....The Sassy Catholic got to meet the one and only.....CHRIS STEFANICK! I had the amazing experience of hearing him speak to me and a thousand other teens +  young adults (Check out the video here) on the existence of God, on the creation of man, stories of the holiness and strength shown by many saints, and much more. He is a very strong man of God, who I have much respect for. The way he spoke about his beautiful wife and children, warmed my heart. And the way he spoke to us, like he genuinely cared..wow. I don't even know how to describe how special that made me feel. To say the least, I had an amazing experience being able to be reminded of God's divine love for us, to be able to worship with so many great Catholics, and yes. Getting to shake his hand and get a quick picture didn't hurt. ;)

I want to take a moment to thank our most blessed Mother for making this happen.

Hail Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

And finally, I would like to encourage you to live out your faith, to the best of your ability. Never lose hope. And if you ever, ever get the opportunity to hear Chris speak, take that chance. I can promise that you wont regret it. 

Your sister, 

Abbey 

Do Engagement Rings Need To Be Expensive?

When a man gets down on one knee to profess his love for his beloved woman and holds up a shining ring for her, does that ring really need to be fancy? Made out of an expensive, rare metal topped with a gigantic diamond resting on top? Absolutely not. Before I explain why I believe this, let's look at the meaning of engagement rings.

An engagement ring is a gift from a man asking a woman for her hand in holy matrimony. If she accepts this token, she also accepts what this ring should mean and the man who gave it to her. It should signify the promise, and sacrifice, he is eager to make for her. It promises that he will love her for all the days of his life, that he will protect her against all evil, be an upstanding spiritual leader for her and perhaps future children when they are married, to provide for her, to honor her dignity, to confide in her, and much, much more. When she accepts this ring, she is also making some of these promises and countless more. When a couple slide on those wedding bands on each other on their joyous wedding day, it will be a constant reminder for them to remember that they are committed to each other, until death do they part. Now, I'm your capital R romantic, so I find this enchanting. I could go on and on about the significance of the meaning behind rings, but I now want to explain to you why I believe fancy rings aren't completely necessary.


I talked about what a ring signifies, but tell me this. Does the meaning change whether the ring presented has a huge gemstone, or is a simple yet beautiful gold or silver band? I hope your answer is no. I'm not saying that fancy rings are bad, ladies. A man should want to treat you like a princess, because you are worthy of this treatment. You are the daughter of the King of all kings! But this does not mean that we should think any less of a man if he cannot afford a simpler ring. It is the man and his relationship with God you should be focused on. How he treats you, and the people around you. Most importantly, you should be focused on your future together! Not how spectacular the ring looks on your finger. Accept the man for who he is. I hope and pray he is a faithful man who will help you in your journey to heaven. And that is all I have to say on that matter today. Stay holy, friends.

"THE DIGNITY OF EVERY WOMAN IS THE DUTY OF EVERY MAN."

POPE JOHN PAUL II

Hey there + Welcome

Hi there, my brothers + sisters!

Welcome to the blog The Sassy Catholic. Now most of you who are reading this right now probably came from my YouTube channel (Which you can find here + subscribe if you haven't already). But, some of you might have just stumbled across this blog spontaneously and found yourself reading my first post. Either way, I want to warmly welcome you. I thought long & hard on whether or not to start this blog. I mean, I already have a YouTube channel that still needs a ton of work and another blog where I write about anything from fashion to photography, has taken me five long years of work to get it to where it is now. (Blogging is harder than you may think.) But alas, here I am! I finally decided that to better spread the love + mercy of Christ to the world, a combined YouTube channel, and blog would do this mission nicely. Or so I dearly hope and pray! I hope you guys will support me in this decision, pray for me so that I may write the words of not a imperfect human like myself but the words that God puts on my heart, and feel free to comment on any one of my posts with any encouragements or suggestions. Just please keep in mind that I wish to keep this blog a place of hope, authentic encouragement, and kindness. If you happen to not agree with my opinions, or believe my information is incorrect, you are more than welcome to have your opinions, but allow me the same courtesy. And as for my information, you are welcome to kindly correct me...just make sure you have studied the information in question. I'm usually open to a lesson of humility. ;) 

I'm not really sure what all my posts will be about, but I trust the holy spirit will lead the fingers I type with! But, you can most definitely count on every post having something to do with Catholicism...since that is the whole point of starting this blog! My main goal is to encourage my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to become saints, and in the process I hope to become one myself. As Saint John Paul II once said;

"BE NOT AFRAID TO BECOME SAINTS!"

So on that note, that is all I have to say for this first blog post! If you'd like to get to know me a little better, feel free to check out the ABOUT page or check out my channel. I only have a few videos up and most of them I'm not entirely proud of, but it's a learning process I plan on getting better at. Like I mentioned before, prayers would be appreciated. 

Your sister in Christ,

Abbey