Gorgeous Blogger Award

The last thing in my mind was receiving a blogging award... But Jen, from Laudem Gloriae, has been kind enough to bestow on me the "Gorgeous Blogger Award". I first blushed when I read it in her blog and then started wondering what that meant. Apparently, I have to post 6 little known things about myself and then mention six blogs I enjoy, thus passing on the award. So here it goes...

Little known things about me:

1. I'm a polyglot. That means you need two hands to count the number of languages I can communicate in / understand. I love languages and have a good ear for accents. And that, my friends, was not humble at all!

2. I know France and the United States better than my own country. (I'm a US citizen by birth, though!)

3. I had a private audience ("Santo Incontro") with Pope John Paul II in Rome a number of years ago. Yep, private. Got the pictures to prove it, courtesy of the L'Osservatore Romano photographer. I took the opportunity to tell JPII that I wanted to be a discalced carmelite.

4. English is not my first language and my brain thinks intermixing multiple languages. One time, many years ago, I was giving a presentation in English and I suddently switched to another language without realizing. When I finished, the moderator said "So can you now tell us what you just said in English?" Embarrassed doesn't even begin to describe how I felt. So if you see mistakes in the blog, now you know why.

5. I managed to go through 10 years of higher education in the "hard" sciences without ever taking a single class that mentioned evolution or Darwinism or the "idea" that the universe and life were created by random accident... In fact, most of my professors were practicing Christians, some of them Catholics, not one of them - to my knowledge - was an atheist. Yes, my dear readers, not all scientists are atheists. But please pray for all scientists- they need many prayers.

6. I am a rosary maker. I've been making rosaries for almost 10 years now. Rosaries, chaplets, way of the cross, you name it... No jewelry, just devotional items. Before Vatican II, it was not uncommon for people to pray the rosary and devotional chaplets throughout the year. It is my hope that more people come to appreciate our Traditions. For each bead I set, with the blessing of my spiritual director, I ask Our Lady to rescue one soul from Purgatory and the conversion of a poor sinner.

These are six blogs I recommend. There is a good number of blogs I try to follow in several languages so I decided to hide the list from my profile, lest some readers start scratching their heads wondering about my state of mind. *grin* Some of these blogs are not in English, but try using Google's translator... Expand your horizons...

1. A Voz do Silêncio - A Portughese blog on prayer and contemplation. Love it.

2. Vivificat! - Kept by an Oblate of St Benedict, this is a blog with comments on various global and catholic issues.

3. Seek His Face - Father Check's blog with spiritual reflections. Need I say more?

4. A Solitary Bird - Commentary on Carmelite spirituality and contemplative prayer. I love the way Rebecca writes.

5. Ermitaño Urbano - A Spanish blog on the heremitical life and the contemplative calling in the world. Contemplation, silence, solitude and detachment are some of the recurring themes of this blog.

6. Dichosa Ventura - Another Spanish blog on silence, solitude and contemplation. This one draws heavily from the Cistercian (Carthusian) traditions. Excellent read.

Just a little fun in an otherwise serious blog... :) God reward you, Jen!