It all started when my life kept "getting worse" from 2021 to 2022. If you're a regular reader of mine, you'd know what I'm talking about. No there wasn't any tragedy or anything like that. But my life was going downhill and it wasn't getting any better.

In response to Hive PH community's question: "What were the major highlights of your 2023?", here I will mention what happened. _{(Also tagging @jloberiza and @gems.and.cookies to join this writing activity if they can. 😁)} From spiritual renewal to everything in between, I'll share new things I did and discovered in 2023!

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This post includes links to previous posts I've written. This is so you can also read through everything. Perhaps it can help anyone who's having a crisis of faith or are down in the dumps too.

Are...

you...

READYYYYY?!?!

Lezgoooo! 💪

In the beginning...

At the start of the year I had already stopped working. The company I was working for was the worst I've ever worked for. Everything was difficult and such a pain in the -ss. Seriously. I've never been so angry at work in my entire life! 😂

2021 I spent the year angry at my uncouth neighbors, 2022 I was raging at the world (presidential election) and against a traditionally Filipino company. Oh boy. What a life huh?

And so in 2023 I decided to quit everything in the 1st quarter. As mentioned in previous posts, it felt like my personality was somehow getting worse. At some point I started feeling like I had to do something, anything, or else!

January 2023

But of course I also went on with my life. I decided to finally get more serious in learning a foreign language. Why not when Maria Clara and Ibarra was such a popular show on TV! Heck I even wrote a series review.

Thus I started self-studying Spanish again. And then I bought a trilingual dictionary! Hello English-Spanish-Filipino wordbook!

Lent 2023: The turning point

February 2023

I got the four Spanish books I ordered online. It was the first time I bought Spanish reading materials, ever!

(Unfortunately I still haven't finished reading everything. The language is still too complicated for me to understand! 😅)

It was also during this month that I thought of doing something about an illness I got in late 2022. Bought some alternative medicine that required one to stop eating meat and such. This was how and why I thought of doing fasting/abstinence.

Well Ash Wednesday had already happened so I thought why not do the Catholic practice too? No harm in doing it imho. I knew people who lived doing them regularly so what's not to like?

Thus I became a vegetarian then a flexitarian for 3 months. I've never done that in my entire life. Heck there's a first for everything. 😂 (Now I kinda miss eating lots of veggies.)

March 2023

March 18, 2023 I discovered Fr. Chad Ripperger on YouTube and whoa I got blown away! The things I learned made sense on what was happening in my life since the pandemic happened.

This was when my spiritual renewal began. Imagine, fasting/abstinence + Catholic online catechism = Boom! 💥 I realized a lot of the mistakes I've been doing in life and why things were happening to me. Life felt difficult!

It was also when I discovered various prayers in order to be protected from the evil in this world. I wrote it all here: The Only Life Hack You'll Need Against Bad Luck, the Devil and Demons! Believe me, praying to Mama Mary and doing everything I wrote in there changed my life! I didn't think anything would happen but I was wrong.

Finally I went to confession after years and years of not doing so! Man, the feeling afterwards was just amazing. Thank you Lord for your overflowing mercy. 🙏

April 2023

It was during this time I also thought of searching for video content from Filipino Catholic exorcists. April 25, 2023 I discovered Fr. Jocis Syquia.

Oh la la! I learned a lot from him too! Made me buy 2 books by him. Dang huh. 😆

During this month I still kept doing WEEKLY confession. Nobody told me to do it, I just felt like it! 🙏 I wanted to be clean, so clean that I even wanted to drink holy water! Seriously. 😅 Ah the things I started doing since Lent.

Anyway I was learning more abt Catholicism via online catechism from priests and such that I was bursting at the seams! I had to share everything I've been experiencing and learning!

And so because of my renewed faith, I started writing about my experience and realizations. If you read my 3 part "testimonial" you'll know how God finally changed my life. This is why I love 2023!!! Haha.

For those who are curious and wanna know what happened, here you go:

• Part 1: The Devil Will Torment and Blind You With Your Eyes Wide Open
• Part 2: Hate of Self and Others is One of The Devil's Traps
• Part 3: How To Escape The Devil's Grasp

2nd Quarter of the Year

May 2023

Well as mentioned I couldn't keep everything I was learning so eventually I ended up answering Quora questions:

• If You are Young and So Interested in Demons, is that Strange?
• If Satan Was Real, Would He Get Arrested?
• Can Psychopaths Be Redeemed by God?
• How Do You Know if the Devil is Bothering You?

During this month I also had my laptop blessed on Labor Day. Wow, who knew or even thought such things could be done huh? 😆 Clearly I never thought about that until I heard the announcement while attending Sunday mass.

Then I learned about consecration to (Jesus through) Mama Mary online. All thanks to Gabi After Hours on YouTube. Whoa, again I have never heard of such a thing in my life before! So I checked on how to do it and decided I have nothing to lose if I did it.

Remember, I was a lukewarm Catholic since birth. Being a cradle Catholic in a predominantly Catholic country doesn't mean sh*t when you're lukewarm and meh in the faith.

It was also around this time when I started praying the rosary daily. Oh boy, what an achievement huh? Haha. I've never done that before, ever. And then suddenly when I was told to do it, I did it easily!

The last time I prayed a rosary was back in high school. I never even knew there's already a "new" set called Luminous mysteries until I started praying it again! Dang, was so out of the loop! 😂

June 2023

Finally got consecrated to Mama Mary on the feast day of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH). Honestly I have never been a fan of her. I even had an issue with the image of hers when I was a kid. 😂

I used to see her iconic image almost everywhere! And I was like, WTH she's all over the place! 😆 Young me would probably not believe I would eventually get consecrated on OLPH's feast day. 😅 But of course I'm finding out more and more about the Queen of Heaven and Earth!

Also I finally got the brown scapulars blessed in June. I bought several plastic ones back in 2009 and I just kept them! What the... Well I didn't have any miraculous medal to wear as reminder of my consecration. That's why I just wore one of the blessed scapulars instead.

Meanwhile surprise, surprise, I got an email from TESDA for an interview to join the free scholarship to a Spanish language class! It was just so sudden and quite unbelievable! Hurray!!! Of course I got excited and yes I passed the online screening.

It was one of the happiest moments of my life. God truly moves in mysterious ways. It took several years before I was eventually sent that email! I swear! What the heck. haha. Thinking abt it now, I truly believe it was because of my renewed faith in God. Thank you Mama Mary! Finally I started learning about the basics of Spanish and more! 😁

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Shall I still go on? 😆 It's already getting quite long! How about a Part 2 huh? Last 6 months in my next post! 😉 Reading it now I'm still amazed at how God can turn one's life around. Like, whoa I'm like a totally different person even if I'm still me!

Btw today, January 1, is a Holy Day of Obligation so lezgo to mass! (Well unless you've been to the night mass yesterday then it's fine.)

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section too!

XOXO,
@artgirl

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Written by @artgirl for Hive
© Art x Stephanie Rue / Lucy Stephanie

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