Donna-Marie Cooper OBoyle - By Dawns Early Light: Prayers and Meditations for Catholic Military Wives

Donna-Marie Cooper OBoyle

B y

Dawns

Early Light

Prayers and Meditations
for Catholic Military Wives

SOPHIA INSTITUTE PRESS
Manchester, New Hampshire

Copyright 2017 by Donna-Marie Cooper O Boyle

Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Coronation Media.

On the cover: rosary on U.S. flag, ericsphotography/iStock (527744745).

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993. Scripture texts marked NABRE are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. Scripture texts marked RSVCE are taken from the Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible (RSV), copyright 1965 and 1966 with some citations from the Catholic Edition of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (NRSV), copyright 1989, 1993 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture texts marked KJV are taken from the King James Version.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Sophia Institute Press
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1-800-888-9344

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: OBoyle, Donna-Marie Cooper, author.

Title: By dawns early light : a prayer book for women in the service and

military wives / Donna-Marie Cooper OBoyle.

Description: Manchester, New Hampshire : Sophia Institute Press, 2018. |

Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017053958 | ISBN 9781622824748 (pbk. : alk. paper) ePub ISBN 978-1-622824-755

Subjects: LCSH: Catholic women Prayers and devotions. | Women and the

military. | Women soldiers Prayers and devotions. | Military

spouses Prayers and devotions.

Classification: LCC BX2170.W7 O255 2017 | DDC 242/.88 dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017053958

For my children, Justin, Chaldea, Jessica, Joseph, and Mary-Catherine, and my grandchildren Shepherd James and Leo Arthur; and for my father, Eugene Joseph Cooper, who served in the National Guard.

Also for my brothers Gary John Cooper and Timothy John Cooper, who served in the Vietnam War, and to all the heroic military men and women who have come before us and all those who will continue to serve.

May God bless one and all!

Contents

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Introduction

If you want peace, work for justice.
If you want justice, defend life.
If you want life, embrace the truth:
the truth revealed by God.

St. John Paul II, homily, January 27, 1999

T his book is for all women associated with the military, whether on land, on sea, or in the air those married to men in the military; mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, nieces, or cousins of soldiers; and all those at home who are waiting for their loved ones to return or who are living on military bases, or struggling with the myriad demands connected with military life.

This book is for you.

I witnessed my mothers tears on many occasions when my brothers Gary and Tim were on the other side of the world fighting in Vietnamese jungles. Theres no doubt about it. War is ugly. War changes us. It takes away our loved ones sometimes for a time, while they are deployed, and in other cases, forever. As a young girl, I worried so much about my older brothers when they were fighting in the Vietnam War. I thought I might not be fortunate enough to see both come home alive. I knelt beside my bed every night, pleading with God to keep them safe: Please bring them home, dear Lord! Thankfully, they both came back. But they were no doubt changed for having been there. Gary has since passed on to his eternal reward due to cancer that might have been linked to his exposure to chemical weapons.

War is ugly indeed, but those who engage in battle to protect innocent human life are amazingly beautiful heroic souls. G. K. Chesterton once said, The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him. For some time now, I have felt inspired to write a book for military women. Ever since I was invited to speak to the women at West Point several years ago, I felt a special connection with them and wanted to write a prayer book for them. In fact, I told the lovely ladies that very night that I would write a book for them. Later, I was invited to speak to a couple of groups of military women at Fort Bliss, Texas, and after that I was a keynote speaker at the Worldwide Conference of the Military Council of Catholic Women (MCCW) in Washington, D.C. My heart goes out to these gallant women, and I am overjoyed and blessed that they have adopted me as an honorary lifetime member of their worldwide community and have asked me to speak at their conference again.

Military women are very special soul sisters. They share a certain military pride; they are in solidarity in their goal to defend human life, to fight injustice, and to protect their country. They have heroically placed their lives on the line on battlefields as well as in battling military issues on the home front, dealing with the devastation of war and how it has encroached upon their families, battling the stress of numerous moves and transitions, intense worry, uncertainty, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, alcoholism, suicide, and much more that comes with the territory.

I want to tell their stories: their heartaches, their pains, and their amazing triumphs. I want to shine a light on them to give honor and praise to these deserving women who carry on with humility, albeit at times feeling as if they are groping in the dark at what lies ahead, while clinging tenaciously to the gift of faith growing in their hearts and souls. Their heroism doesnt remain on the battlefield; its woven into the very fabric of their lives.

In addition, I also deeply desire to offer prayers and inspiration that will give them a powerful shot in the arm, to uplift their spirits and encourage them to put one foot in front of the other to continue to walk in faith.

When I think of faithful and prayerful women working together or helping one another, I cannot help but ponder our Blessed Mother and particularly her visit to her older cousin St. Elizabeth. Immediately after the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary at the Annunciation to inform her that she was going to be the Mother of God, before Mary even took time to ponder the whole idea of suddenly becoming pregnant after being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, the beautiful virtue of charity moved her to proceed in haste to the hill country to be of service to her cousin who was also pregnant, but late in life. Mary didnt worry about her own pregnancy discomforts or even about what St. Joseph might say when he would see her protruding baby bump three months later upon her return. She simply and deliberately put her needs aside and set out on a faithful pilgrimage to help. After all, she was, as she called herself, a handmaid of the Lord (Luke 1:38). We can imagine that Mary was a tremendous help to Elizabeth and that Elizabeth was a great comfort and steady source of seasoned holy wisdom for Mary. May we women strive to imitate their holy, virtuous lives.