St. Dominic of Silos (1000 to Dec. 20, 1073)

   I am surrounded by pregnant friends and coworkers in their twenties and thirties all day long, but today I learned of something short of a miracle. My older brother's wife, who will be 47 in February, is pregnant with their first child. The baby is due in June. No egg donor and no in vitro fertilization. Something to regulate ovulation? I'm not going to ask.
  "It happened the natural way," my younger brother said.
  I'm so happy because this child will grow up in a loving household with devoted parents. And now, when I hear people say it's impossible for them to get pregnant if they are in their forties, I can say there is hope.
  (I was also thrilled to hear the good news on Dec. 10 because for the past 42 years, it's been a solemn day in my family. I was 4-years-old when my second cousin, a police officer, froze to death while trying to save a child who fell through the ice while skating on a pond.)
  St. Dominic of Silos, the founder of the Order of Preachers, is one of many patron saints of pregnant women. He was born to peasant parents in La Rioja, Spain in 1000.
  St. Dominic of Silos worked as a shepherd then became a Benedictine monk. He founded a monastery which because a place for charity, book design, and gold and silver work.
  St. Dominic of Silos died on Dec. 20, 1073. His feast day is Dec. 20.

(R.I.P. Norman:  Dec. 8, 1930 to Dec. 10, 1968)

St. Elizabeth (1st century)

  "And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month."                       (Luke 1:36)

  Why is that that some women are able to have children so easily and others either have a miscarriage or encounter complications ? My friend, who lost her two-week-old son early this summer, is now five months pregnant and must have surgery next week to save her unborn child. Although there's a 70 percent chance of success, she is terrified that something will go terribly wrong.
  This is where I question the phrase "God only gives you as much as you can handle." She's experienced enough trauma this year. I'm giving her a copy of "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne on audio so that she can permanently manifest positive thoughts.
  St. Elizabeth is a patron saint of pregnant women. She was born and died in the 1st century. The quote above is St. Gabriel the Archangel telling the Blessed Virgin Mary that St. Elizabeth, her cousin, was pregnant with St. John the Baptist. The painting for this blog entry is by Rubens and depicts the Holy Family with St. Elizabeth and her baby.
  It was a miracle that she had her child at such a late age. Many religious scholars believe she may have been in her fifties at the time.  St. Elizabeth's feast day is Oct. 5. I know that if my friend believes in miracles she, too, will have a healthy baby.