Valiant Vignette: Lady Almina

Lady Almina, the Fifth Countess of Carnarvon lived at Highclere Castle in the early 1900's. (And yes, that is where Downton Abbey is set, for any fan-girls out there.) At the very beginning of World War I, she decided to do her bit for the war effort by turning the castle into a hospital for returning wounded soldiers. "She became an adept nurse and a skilled healer and hundreds of letters from patients and their families bear testament to her untiring work and spirit of generosity."

(And on a totally unrelated, but super interesting note, her husband was one of the men on the expedition that discovered King Tut's tomb!  What an interesting life she must have had!)

Nurse's Capping Ceremony

So many valiant women in this picture!

Queen Elizabeth of Belgium

History and Other Thoughts: Queen Elizabeth's War Work

This week's post is from another blog. It's the story of Queen Elizabeth's bravery during World War I.  What an inspiring woman!

From Yesterday's Introit

Give peace, O Lord, to them that patiently wait for Thee, that Thy prophets may be found faithful: hear the prayers of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel.
Eccl. 36:18

Working on patience this week. :)

Valiant Vignette: Irena Sendler

Obscure Sacrifices

Ramanujan's Wife

                My husband and I recently watched The Man Who Knew Infinity.  It came out last year and I had never heard of, but was totally excited to discover this gem.  The movie has an incredible cast, including Dev Patel, the star of Slumdog Millionaire, Jeremy Irons, Jeremy Northam, Toby Jones, Stephen Fry and other notable British actors.  (Why this movie didn’t get more publicity with such a cast, I can’t understand.)  It’s the true story of an Indian mathematician, Ramanujan, who had an incredible mind and was able to quickly see formulas, equations, and theorem that it took others pages of painstaking proofs to arrive at.  The movie is beautifully made, and the characters are all compelling – from my point of view, especially Ramanujan’s wife, Janaki.

Earth's Angels

Greetings, all!

In the past week or two I've started working more, as I have a new job and I'm trying to put in more hours on my other job, and unfortunately, the blog is going to get the short straw.  I'm still going to aim for posting a Valiant Woman portrait each week, but vignettes may become more common.

I'll try to post one or two other bits of inspiration during the week. Thanks for your understanding!

God bless!

The Glory of Martyrdom

“If we preserve steadfast patience amidst the ills of life, we shall share in the glory of martyrdom as much as if we had fallen beneath the axe of the executioner.” – St. Gregory the Great


Happy Feast of St. Pius X tomorrow!

Excerpts from "The Valiant Woman" By Monseigneur Landroit

I came accross this book, and so I thought I'd share bits and pieces of it with y'all from time to time.  It's a series of talks given by the Archbishop of Rheims for the married women of his parish in the mid 1800's.  He takes the Valiant Woman passage from Proverbs and goes through it in depth, line by line, from start to finish.  I hope you enjoy it!

First Discourse: A Portrait of a Valiant Woman

To man is given, in a special manner, strength, wisdom, and mental understanding; to woman, docility, the intelligence of the heart, and that mysterious instinct for a hundred things which escape man’s notice.