When Sarah was doing her sacramental preparation for Confirmation, she had to choose her Confirmation saint and write a paper about this person and why she chose them.
She had trouble determining which saint she wanted but after quite a bit of research, she ultimately chose
St. Rosaline de Villaneuve. St. Rosaline was a born in France in 1263. Her father was a wealthy noble and the family lived in a castle. Beggars would show up every morning looking for food and even though her father forbid her feeding the beggars, Rosaline did it anyway. One morning she had bread hidden in the folds of her skirt to take to to the beggars. Her father stopped her and asked what she was hiding in her skirt. She told him they were roses that she had just picked but he didn't believe her. He demanded that she show him and when she opened the folds of her skirt, roses fell out where the bread had been. This is why she is often portrayed in art work with a skirt full of roses.
Sarah was confirmed on Friday night. Since it was the first Friday of the month, not only did she have Mass at school but she also attended
Adoration and
Benediction.
As we were rushing in the door from school to eat and get dressed and get ready to head back out to Confirmation, I noticed a large box on the front step.
"Wonder what that is, I thought knowing I hadn't ordered anything recently.
I got the box from the porch and noticed it was from ProFlowers and was addressed to Sarah.
I called for her to come down because she had a package.
"What is it? Is this for me? Is it flowers for me??"
She ripped into the box and there was the most beautiful bouquet of 24 red roses and a box of 6 giant strawberries from Sharie's Berries that were dipped in chocolate and nuts.
As soon as she realized it was roses, she exclaimed, "MOM!!!! When I was praying at adoration today, I asked Rosaline to pray that God would send me a rose today for my Confirmation!"
St. Rosaline is quite the intercessor as mere hours later, not one but TWENTY FOUR roses were waiting on Sarah!
I teared up when she told me she asked St. Roseline to intercede for her and I love that God not only sent my sweet girl a rose, but two dozen roses. I also love that the person who sent the roses was Uncle Ron. Uncle Ron isn't Dan's actual uncle but a friend of Dan's Uncle Bob. They met and became friends in the seminary. He spent all the major holidays with Dan's family and became part of the family.
Uncle Ron concelebrated our wedding with Uncle Bob and told me that when he saw me walking down the aisle with a bouquet of red roses he knew it was a sign from St. Therese. Uncle Ron has a great devotion to St. Therese who said, "After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my
heaven doing good upon earth. I will raise up a mighty host of little
saints. My mission is to make God loved..." So to me it is even more special that God used him to send the flowers to Sarah.
I am so thankful that God answered Sarah's prayer for a rose on her Confirmation. To me, it is like Matthew 7:11 coming to life:
"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to
those who ask him!
" - Matthew 7:11
St. Rosaline de Villaneuve pray for us!
Here is the picture we snapped of Sarah right before we headed out the door. She grabbed one of the roses and this is the one that we know have pressed between two heavy books and she plans to keep in her Bible.
And here are a few of the professional photos from Confirmation:
