Do you want to get closer to the Blessed Mother ... but you've found it hard because of your relationship with your "real" mom?

You're not alone.

In this episode of The Root and Fountain podcast, host Veronica Jarski shares her 10 tips about getting closer to the Virgin Mary.

Because of Veronica's emotionally abusive childhood, she never desired to have a relationship with Mother Mary. However, as she grew deeper in her Catholic faith, she saw how her favorite saints had special devotion to the Virgin Mary. So, she embarked on a reluctant-at-first journey to get closer to the Blessed Mother.

Here are her tips from her journey so far.

How do you practice Ignatian spirituality? In this Catholic podcast, special guest Jon Roberts explores the basics of St. Ignatius's spiritual exercises, such as:

Mentioned in this podcast

Does your prayer life feel a little ... stagnant? Or are you comfortable in your prayer life? It might be time to actively work on your prayer life.

In episode 5 of The Root and Fountain podcast, Veronica goes over the 10 signs that your prayer life needs leveling up.

How can you bring others to Christ through prayer? Is there are right way and a wrong way to use prayer as a tool for evangelism?

In this episode of The Root and the Fountain podcast, host Veronica Jarski and regular guest Cathy Duffy have a hearty, good conversation about praying with others and how doing so can help bring people to Christ. 

We cover:

Cathy shares the highlights of this subject drawn from her book Everyday Evangelism for Catholics: A Practical Guide to Spreading the Faith in a Contemporary World.

After listening to this episode, we hope you'll be inspired to pray more with others (you cannot possibly be as clumsy as Veronica was when she started!) and excited to see the results of it.

Links:

• Everyday Evangelism for Catholic

In this episode of The Root and the Fountain podcast, hosts Cathy Duffy and Veronica Jarski have a lively chat about:

• Prayer journals. What they are, how they can help in the praying life, etc.
• Prayer request notebooks. How to track all the prayer requests you have. Cathy discuss how she's tracked them for 10 years; Veronica shares how she just got started with them (!).
• My Adopted Ones. Veronica goes public with her private sketchbook, My Adopted Ones, and how it has been an enormous part of her praying life. 

They also discuss how to set up a prayer journaling routine (and why you might not need one), ways to journal without having to write anything down, and stories from their praying life.

Are you in lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you just concerned about your health and staying home? Are you not feeling well and unable to get to church?

You can still pray for your parish family, even though you're not able to be physically present.

In this episode of The Root and the Fountain podcast, hosts Cathy Duffy and Veronica Jarski discuss how you can pray for your parish family.

1. Pray for everyone who would've been in your pew (the old regulars)
2. Pray through the bulletin
3. Pray through your parish website, 
4. Pray for the religious orders in your parish (priest, deacons, seminarians) 
5. Ask for prayer requests for heads of ministries
6. Form prayer groups
7. Call people for prayer requests from various ministries
8. Pray for your parish's food pantry/homeless outreach
9. Pray from the parking lot for the parish
10. Pray as you walk the sacred grounds

In this very first episode of The Root and the Fountain podcast, host Veronica Jarski and frequent guest Cathy Duffy discuss:

• Why this podcast got started (and how they worked at a prayer booth at their parish)
• How they (and others!) define prayer
• Obstacles to prayer
• Cathy's journey as a pray-er
• Veronica's journey as a pray-er
• How to Get Started

Prayer is the fuel for our lives ... It should be something that excites us, fills us with peace and purpose, something that deepens every day. So, in addition to discussing the praying life, Cathy and Veronica also wrap up this episode with a prayer with you. ❤️️