How God Grows a Calling One “Yes" at a Time With Kristin Bryant From Novena Cards

What if the calling God has placed on your heart isn't revealed all at once—but grows through each faithful "yes"?

In this week's episode, I sit down with Kristin Bryant, founder of Novena Cards, to share her incredible journey of returning to the Catholic faith and discovering the mission God had been preparing her for all along.

From working as a dental hygienist to creating greeting cards, discerning religious life, and unexpectedly losing her job during the pandemic, Kristin reflects on how every season—even the ones that didn't seem connected—became part of God's greater plan.

Our conversation is a beautiful reminder that God rarely asks us to have everything figured out. Instead, He simply invites us to trust Him with the next step. As we continue saying "yes," He faithfully shapes our hearts, reveals our purpose, and grows the calling He has placed within us.

In this episode, we discuss:
✨ Kristin's journey back to the Catholic Church and how the Eucharist changed everything
✨ Learning to discern God's voice through prayer and the spirituality of St. Ignatius
✨ Why courage often comes before clarity
✨ How God uses every season—even the unexpected ones—to prepare us for our vocation
✨ The story behind Novena Cards and how one simple idea became a ministry that encourages thousands in prayer
✨ The beauty and power of praying novenas for ourselves and others

If you've been wondering whether God is calling you to something more, or you're navigating a season of discernment, this episode is a gentle encouragement to trust that He is already at work. You don't need to know the entire path—you only need the grace to say "yes" to the next step.

Because God grows a calling one faithful "yes" at a time.

Resources Mentioned:

The Real Presence by Saint Peter Julian Eymard (Meditations on the Eucharist)

Connect Kristin:

Follow Kristin on Instagram: @novenacards

Novena Cards Website: novenacards.com

Connect with Carrie:
Follow Carrie on Instagram @livingwholeandholy

Schedule a Free 1:1 Catholic Coaching Clarity Call with Carrie

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Welcome to the Living Whole and Holy podcast, where the Catholic faith and intentional living come together. I'm your host, Carrie Jane, a recent Catholic convert and Catholic coach, here to guide you toward a life that's rooted in Christ, centered in his love, and aligned with God's call. Whether you're a convert, revert, cradle Catholic, or simply exploring the faith, you're in the right place. Join me each week to hear inspiring conversations including conversion and reversion stories, timeless wisdom from the church, and practical Catholic coaching tools that help you deepen your faith and intimacy with Christ, cultivate Christ-centered habits, and be transformed through the renewing of your mind. If you're ready to discover and align to the beauty and richness of a fully integrated Catholic life, you've found your home. I'm so excited you're here. Let's get started. Kristen is the founder of Novena Cards, a Catholic brand that helps people plan their prayer, pray for others, and send the encouragement of their prayers. After many years working as a dental hygienist, she is grateful to now use her creative gifts full-time through this mission. Inspired by Scripture, the saints, the tradition of the Catholic Church, and the encouragement of being prayed for by others, Kristen Hope's Novena Cards helps people draw closer to God and experience the hope we have in Him. Kristen, welcome to the show. I am so excited for this conversation.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Well, thanks so much for having me, Carrie. It's such a joy to be here.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

I love to start with my guest's background in Catholicism. And I know that you have a story around that. So I'd love for you to share that.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Perfect. Well, I would love to share it. Um so I grew up Catholic. I was a cradle Catholic. I went to Catholic school um first to eighth grade. And during that, um, at the end of eighth grade, I went on a retreat and my blessed youth minister, who I adore, gave uh his testimony on that retreat about how um how the Lord loves us and how he is part of his life. And from that moment, I had a special connection with God. I uh went home that day and I felt like everything was different. I had read my Bible as a kid a little bit under the covers and um heard the passion at one point during Catholic school, but it wasn't until that moment when my youth minister explained who Jesus was and what he that he had died for us and his personal connection to him that the Lord really spoke to my heart. So I was really involved in my youth group growing up. I was involved in, if you've ever heard of young life, it was like a Catholic youth group, but we also had Young Life. And at that point in time, I when I graduated, I was, you know, super in love with Jesus and my Christian faith, I would say at the time, but I didn't know at the time a lot about my Catholic faith. So when I went to college, I was looking for something that was fun and like my youth group. And what I happened to find, I found that in the Protestant church. I joined a First Baptist group on campus that was wonderful and alive and had lots of Bible studies and fun activities. And so that led me away from the church, the Catholic Church, for a number of years. And I grew a lot in my study of scripture and the Bible. And it wasn't until I was in North Carolina 10 years later, getting a degree in dental hygiene, that the Lord placed a number of steps to lead me back to the church. There was a priest that was writing some Lenten reflections that I had been receiving. And in them, he talked about going to confession. And all of his meditations through Lent were really drawing me in. And at one point, I had this inspiration. I was like, I need to go to confession. And so I made this very passionate, I don't think I've ever done such a passionate confession. Took all this time to prepare my heart to go to confession. And also during that time, it was right before Holy Week. So because this was all during Lent, it was leading up to Holy Week. And uh the Sunday prior as well, I had been sitting in a church in North Carolina and the band had just played, you know, a very engaging rock band, exciting worship mix and the preacher who just preached. And I had this very clear thought that everything around me was meant to entertain me, but that there was something missing. And in my heart, felt or heard, I miss being Catholic and can't remember exactly the timing, went to confession, and then happened just to be in the most beautiful moments of Holy Week, right? And I had no idea. I remember going to Palm Sunday Mass as a kid, but I definitely don't remember going to any of the other beautiful masses along the way, except for Easter Sunday, right? So decided, again, I believe through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to go to all those masses and was so in awe of the Catholic faith and the tradition and the liturgy, and just fell in love there with everything that was being done. And it was there that I remember specifically, I had this one moment when we venerate the cross, you know, on Good Friday. And I remember doing that. And I wrote the priest who had been sending me the emails, like, oh my goodness, at my church, they did something so beautiful today. And it was like, of course they were, because that's what they were doing at his church. But that point in time, I didn't realize the universality of the Catholic Church, that, you know, everybody around the world in Catholicism is doing the same thing on Good Friday, the beautiful liturgy. So it was there that I would say that I came home to the Catholic faith and that God opened my heart to the faith. And I was like, you know, I want to be Catholic. And it took a number of years later of being involved in a young adult group that those seeds flourished and those roots grew deeper. And then specifically I went on an Ignatian silent retreat many years after that, which I believe gave me the passion and the joy I have for the Catholic faith today was through the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius. So that's kind of my journey through Catholicism. But I could not be more grateful to be Catholic. I love being Catholic. I love the faith. And having been Protestant for so many years, I always knew something was missing. And and I probably couldn't have told you the Holy Week Masses what that was. But now I could tell you it's the Eucharist, right? We're so blessed to have the Eucharist in our faith that Jesus is present, body, blood, soul, and divinity with us. And other denominations, they just don't, they don't have Jesus' real presence. And so I'm so blessed to be Catholic and have that gift and be able to receive Him daily or go. I went and visited the other day, two days ago. It was so calming to my heart just to sit by the tabernacle. So I'm just grateful for the faith.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Amen. Everything you're saying, I'm totally agreeing with because I had a little stint in Protestantism before my husband and I became Catholic. And it really was the Eucharist that brought us to the Catholic Church. Like you said, the tradition and the reverence and even the venerating of the cross, that was one of the most moving experiences I've ever had. My first Holy Week, I just was bawling, just so many different emotions, gratitude, and then also just wow, what did he do for us? Yeah. Really hit me. And I love the universality as well. And that when you go anywhere to any Catholic church, you're having the same readings. Holy week, they're doing the same things. It's that structure, I think, that really helps us stay in that intimate relationship with Jesus. And I think Protestant churches, they're well-meaning, and we had great audiences, and it sounds like you did as well. Absolutely. And at the same time, my husband and I were really missing the reverence piece as well, and that Jesus is really present on the body, blood, soul, and divinity. So I'm right there with you. Well, Kristen, I really was thinking about that time that I went from Protestantism to Catholicism and all the things that I did during that time. And I watched conversion and reversion stories, and I also was just trying to do as many things as I could to help my prayer life and learn about novenas. And I came across your work, and the Lord has put so many talents inside of you. And I know you weren't always a watercolor artist, you didn't always have this business.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

No.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

So I would love to hear a little bit more about your transition because one of the things that I coach my clients with is that God puts a dream in their heart. And sometimes it can be so overwhelming to make that transition. So I'm really curious for you how that was and what happened.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Yeah. So I think stepping back a bit, I think that it's a long journey, right? God puts so many things in your path to cause you to go where he wants you to go. So as a child, he gave me the desire to encourage people. And the desire, like I was always writing when I was in high school, always writing Bible verses and illustrating them to my friends or leaving notes for my youth minister. So I think going back, I think it's really important to look at the inspirations and things that God has done in your journey to lead you to where you are now. Because I can look at it now and be like, God prepared me for what I do now my whole life. And it was just a matter of saying yes in small ways in different moments. Because a long time ago, um, right after my dental hygiene career, I owned a secular greeting card business with my sister. And we sold cards all over the country and went to trade shows. And it was really exciting and really fun. But while I was doing that, I also really had a strong desire to do religious cards. And I knew that in what I was doing, I could do a couple here and there, but I couldn't live out that mission of doing that. But God put that seed in my heart at that moment. So moving forward, it's just really helpful, I think, when you're discerning, when you're discerning, taking a leap of faith to look at all of the moments God has given you and all the way just to keep saying yes to the things that He keeps putting on your heart. Because I went from owning a secular greeting card business to giving up that business to discerning a religious vocation and moving to Michigan to go do that. And again, that was nowhere on the path of starting this greeting card business. What I do now, but there God taught me about the faith and all of the things I post on Instagram now all came from my time in Michigan and the love that I have for the church came from that blessed time of being very close to Jesus and giving him all that I could. Part of the journey is looking at looking at this. And when I got moving forward a little bit, I got married and I married a wonderful man that I adore and who is my best friend. And at the time, I didn't know that he had a lot of business skills, that he would be the the component of I I always knew wanted to start a business, wanted to do this novena cards thing. Yeah, it's such a long path to try to explain the journey of novena cards because it starts from so long ago.

SPEAKER_01 13:05

Um I mean, I think it it's really a testament to that God takes us exactly where we need to go and the steps that He provides for us. And you had these you had these breadcrumbs, you know, you had the the secular greeting card company, there were these seeds that were planted, and then you ended up making it more of who you are. So it sounds like you became more of who you are, because in that secular greeting card world, you probably couldn't create what you're creating now.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

No, totally not. I was really limited to creating uh just a normal happy birthday card. But really, in my heart, what I wanted to share was like all of our cards focused around prayer and God. And I've been so encouraged in my life from scripture, and it's changed my hope and the hope that I have in the Lord by receiving scripture and studying scripture or um just having the hope of a beautiful passage from a psalm that that causes peace in my heart and somebody's prayers. And so I wanted to share that in a greeting card with other people and have that chain of hope continue to be able to give that to somebody. And yes, I when I had this business, I couldn't do that. And so the Lord worked when I got married. My husband said, I want to give you the time and the breath to be able to do this. I know you're doing dental hygiene, but I want to give you the tools, the time, and the treasure, you know, sacrificing from our finances to be able to do what you believe God's called you to do, which was such a beautiful gift. It's hanging on my wall, actually, in my office. It's a little thing he gave me. And so from that moment, I was able to realize, like, okay, this is one of the parts of the journey. But it wasn't until COVID, till, you know, a very tragic time when I lost my job briefly because I couldn't do dental hygiene, that God was like, okay, now is the time. You're home. You have no interruptions, there's nothing else going on. Now is the time to start novena cards. And it was always kind of starting in the background. I was doing some watercolor here and there to try to get it going, but I was always distracted by, you know, doing the role of having being a wife and this a stepmom and then doing a part-time job on the side. So it just was very hard to have that creative space in my heart. But then God, through COVID and my husband was home, God allowed that light to be able to come and we were able to start it. And I look back at it now and I I can see his hand in it because we did so much in that very short period of time where now I'm like, that's just not possible. Like all the things to set up a business, all the designs, many of the designs that we did, Saint Joseph, all the ones that were very critical to starting Novena cards, they all came during that time. And I just look at it and I'm like, that is an act of God because I can't work that fast. Since everything's hand done and then everything's, you know, done on the graphic design and stuff. I can't work that fast. This had to be a work of the Lord to do that. So I guess the transition was just paying attention to all of the moments that God gives us or me to say yes. Like I feel like in my whole life, that is something I've always tried to do, is just to say yes where he's calling me. Yes, I'll go check out religious life. Yes, I'll go back to dental hygiene when that didn't work out. And there were many dark years after that of, you know, sitting there in a dental hygiene chair going, I know God wants me to use my creative gifts and talents. Like almost brings tears to my eyes because I can just see myself sitting there, but you know, that's not what he had called me in that time. And when he did call and when the moment was right, I was able to go and able to create. And he gave the graces to be able to do that. So I think it's just if I could encourage other people, it's just looking for the way he's leading you and just saying yes in those little moments. I guess it is a big leap in the end when you decide to lead, like when I gave my notice and said, I can, you know, I can't work anymore and I'm gonna do this full time. That is a leap. That is certainly a leap. But I had confidence at that point and we had tested it, that I knew this was the next step. I had peace. And the peace is, I think, another part that's really important is to have peace um when you're doing this. If you you feel really stressed about it, and it just may not be the right time, but to take that leap that got the discernment, it yeah, it you will have a feeling of peace, I think.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

Yes, I agree. I agree. And I'm thinking as you're speaking, you know, God put this charism of encouragement in you so long ago, and then he brought you to the Ignatius retreat, the ignatian retreat. And I wonder if that helped in your discernment process, having gone to that.

SPEAKER_00 18:16

Oh, yeah. Yeah, just the principles of Saint Ignatius, the discernment of spirits. I specifically remember a talk on the world, meditating on the influences of the world and it has on us, and in so the sense of the discernment of spirits and how things can attack our thoughts and change our reality, our path forward because of these emotions and things that can weigh us down. And it opened my eyes so much at that moment of like, oh my goodness, I had no idea what was going on here, right? Like I'm just living my life, not realizing how much of the world I'm letting in and being influenced, and then not discerning, is this a good spirit? Is this a bad spirit? You know, which is part of St. Ignatius. And so, yes, the retreat changed my life, but that talk specifically was very pivotal in recognizing that the world had come in and was really influencing my view of everything and just clearing that out and being like, I'm gonna be very specific about what I let into my heart now, what TV I watch, what music I listen to, and just be really guarded because it's so easy to be influenced by the cares and the news, the things that happen in the world all the time. And I feel like in order to be a creative person and do what I do to do this ministry of encouragement, it's really important to be cautious about what I allow to affect my soul.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

So absolutely. And when we're in desolation versus consolation, when we're in desolation, we really should not be making any major life decisions. It's more when we're in consolation that the Lord says, okay, it's that peace that he brings us. But then also, like you said, it does take courage to take that leap. And courage is not a pretty emotion, but it leads so much to what he's guiding us to. So it's like you said, those little yeses along the way, those little breadcrumbs that the Lord plants and even discerning religious life and going to Michigan, how you said it's just infused into your work. So I love that. Did you have any background in watercolor prior to starting novena cards?

SPEAKER_00 20:29

Um, I did a little bit of just dabble here and there for our secular greeting card business. I had there was a couple of things that were watercolored, very minimal. But no, that's one of the miracles of novena cards. I took a watercolor class. I had had a patient when I was I had a patient in the morning. And, you know, you always strike up a conversation with people when when they're getting their teeth cleaned. And she had mentioned to me that she did a watercolor class and that she really liked it. And I was like, wow, you know, my husband just mentioned to me doing a watercolor class. And and it happened to be the same class. And I was like, that is something of the Lord. That just doesn't happen typically. So I wound up taking the class and in the beginning, I it didn't really click. And then at a certain point in time, it did. I started recognizing, I understand color and light and shadow and all these things. And at the end, I was very intimidated. We had to paint a portrait of someone. You just had to pick somebody who you wanted to paint. And I was like, I can't paint a person, a person with a nose and eyes, dust, and whips. How do you do that? So I was very intimidated. And I thought to my head, again, inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I believe. I heard pick someone you love, pick John Paul too. And so I was like, oh, in my mind, that's a great idea. I think I'm gonna do that. So I searched on my phone for pictures of St. John Paul II. And I had gone to World Youth Day as a kid, which had a big effect on my life. I love from that moment forward, I loved St. John Paul II, regardless of being Catholic, not Catholic. It was just something that always stuck with me. So I found a picture of him pressing the cross upon his head while he was praying. And I just it's got to be one of the most beloved images. And so I decided to paint that. And during the class, I just noticed like it was going well. And I honestly could tell you, I probably could not paint this painting again. It just, it was like the colors were working. And I was doing purples with shadows. And they just seemed, they didn't get muddy. And it looked right, you know, the beginnings of it looked right. And I was walking out of the building and somebody, I remember two or three people said to me, that looks like you're off to a great start. And I was like, This is very random. People don't typically say stuff like this, you know, as you're passing through the hall to go to your car. Um, and so I kept working on it. And lo and behold, uh, I recognized in that moment of painting him and finishing the painting. This is how we're starting Novina Cards. Because that was always a missing piece of starting to try to create the artwork for this business. I knew I didn't want it to be like vector artwork. I didn't want it to be Renaissance paintings. So it was a very different style of like, well, how is this gonna happen if I don't have a style that I'm gonna do? And I can't paint people, and I don't want to use previous paintings. So it was always a mystery. It's like one of those things that when you're disturbing, you just have to sit with and be like, okay, well, I don't have that information right now. So I'm just gonna keep moving forward. And I'm sure God will tell me at some point, you know, he'll reveal his will like this to me. And he did. And it was, you know, I want you to paint watercolors. And then I did the second painting was uh Saint Mother Teresa. And that's another one where I'm like, I truly don't believe I could paint this anymore. I tried the other day, I was painting St. Monica, and I was like, I was trying to follow what I did with Saint Teresa Calcutta with St. Monica, and I was like, it's just not working. And because it again, I just believe those two, those were the two portraits I first painted. I believe that there was something special and spiritual going on when I did it that God was with me specifically and being like, I'm gonna show you how to do this. And so that is my background in war color. I went to art school briefly for a year. I felt called to become a dentist. Um, as you can tell, my path is very windy because I w thought maybe I wanted to be a missionary dentist. So I left art school. So I did have that in my background a little bit, but we never got to the fundamentals of creating. I was in like a sculpture class, and I never got to the fundamentals of doing actual really paintings or watercolor specifically. So yeah, it was a journey. It was a journey. But God will tell you if he has something planned, he will certain, certainly make it known.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

Yes. Yes, amen. And I feel like that's the thing about these desires that God puts in our heart that we discern our what he wants us to do uh with him. And we don't always have those skills initially, and it feels impossible. But if he is having that call within you, he will guide you along the way. And you know, like having that conversation with your patient and ending up in the same watercolor class, and then having people recognize, wow, you do have this talent. And you know, even when you started in art school and left, it's like God, there's no mistakes with God on our journey. Even if it is a windy road and we feel like we've veered off, he always guides us back.

SPEAKER_00 25:40

Absolutely. Oh, I absolutely believe that. He always always guides us back for sure.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

Yeah. Well, tell us a little bit about some of your products.

SPEAKER_00 25:50

You have quite a few. Yeah. So we started with novenas. Um, specifically, I was praying in novena with friends, and I wanted to send a card. So that was where the inspiration for novena cards came from was like, I want to tell people I prayed for them and during this novena. And so that was what the original inspiration was to start novena cards. And those cards were the inspiration, and that's where we started. But as time went on, I thought, I want to pray a rosary for someone, and I want to do a holy hour for someone, and I want to uh offer my mass for someone personally. So what we do has grown from even though it's our name just from novena cards, it's grown to doing all types of cards that you could pray for someone, specifically in the Catholic faith, and share the encouragement of your prayers. So that's mainly what we do. And then also we offer prayer cards, which I know you were so kind to mention in the beginning that um these beautiful prayers, traditional prayers of our faith that we can share and that you can bring to adoration or just in your prayer time that they can guide your thoughts to I believe the O's prayers, they just help you form your thoughts and bring you into the presence of God, where then you can, you know, be quiet and meditate and think about. But I think all these beautiful prayers that we have, we offer prayer cards to be able to help people in prayer. So our goal is to help people plan their prayers, which we do through a calendar that we sell or offer on Instagram every month to for people to know when novenas are coming up. So we help people plan and then we have people pray through the prayer cards, and then we help people once they're done praying, send the encouragement of their prayers and let, you know, share and encourage one another. That's beautiful. Three things we do.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

Yeah. And that's what's so beautiful about the Catholic faith. It really is others focused. And I had a priest once tell me, do not waste a mass, always offer a mass up for someone. And I think that your mission really helps people to do that.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:02

Because I get the most fulfillment when I pray for somebody else, or I offer a decade of the rosary, or and what a beautiful way to let somebody know, hey, I've been praying for you. I know you're going through this really hard time. And novenas also were something that I thought was such a beautiful tradition. Yeah. Catholic Church, when I came to the Catholic Church, another way to either offer up intentions for others or or yourself. So, for people who don't know, what is a novena?

SPEAKER_00 28:32

Yeah, so a novena is a prayer you typically pray for nine days. I say typically because there are other novenas out there, like the 30-day novena of St. Joseph, 54 day Rosary Novena, that aren't nine nine days. Um, so that can be confusing, but typically it's a nine-day prayer. It was started because of the way the saints prayed from the ascension to Pentecost while they were waiting for the Holy Spirit. So that's where novena started from. And so we follow that tradition in asking the intercession of a saint, or you can uh, you know, pray for nine days asking the sacred heart to hear your prayers. It could be a devotion, it can be divine mercy. There's so many different things to pray with novenas. You can pray novena to the holy face. Um we did that. Yeah, I remember you sharing that you that you love the the holy faith.

SPEAKER_01 29:26

Yes. And I had a miracle happen during that time. Oh, wow. Yeah, with my work situation. I was working in this room that was sort of like a closet, and I was like, I can't keep doing this. Yeah. I I finished that novena in the morning of I was about to be moved back to that room and just said a prayer. I did the golden arrow prayer, and then administrator came and she said, you know what? You can stay. I was like, Thank you. Yeah. It was quite an upgrade from the room I was working in before. And I was so grateful to God. And then when I heard this when I walked in one morning, I was like, no. And I had been doing the holy face novena. And yeah, they're really, really powerful.

SPEAKER_00 30:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:08

And I know you have a story about a novena with Saint Joseph. Would you like to check that?

SPEAKER_00 30:14

Yes. So recently we moved to Texas and we had been looking for a place to move to for many, many months. I think it had to start like a year ago. That we were starting to look and every day, every day, every day. And then the novena to Saint Joseph came up this year, and it was like, okay, I think we should pray, you know, for this intention of finding us a place in Texas that we can move to. And so we prayed the 30-day novena to Saint Joseph. And on day 15 of the novena, this place popped up that we are now living in. And it was perfect. It faces a path and it just had all the things that we were looking for. And up till that point, we had not found in that all that time anything. And so it was like, oh, thanks be to God. We, you know, flew out here and checked it out and then signed the paperwork literally on the face of St. Joseph. So it was just such a blessing with the way, you know, I just I I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful for St. Joseph's intercession because we found us a great place.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Are there any lesser known saints that you've learned about through this experience or any inspiration you had to get people to learn more about a saint maybe that they've never heard of before?

SPEAKER_00 31:36

Um, I would say one of the saints, and I don't know a ton about him, but his name is Saint Peter Julian Emard, and he is the apostle of the Eucharist. Someone had given me a book about him a really long time ago, and I thought, oh, I'll just hang on to that. I had given away a lot of books, but for some reason I just I hung on to that one. Uh, and lo and behold, he is the apostle of the Eucharist. And I'm in a year of um really praying with the Eucharist and trying to have a deeper devotion and faith in the Eucharist, and didn't know that um my heavenly friend, Saint Peter Emard, uh, would be helpful. He is a beautiful saint and just had such a challenging journey, but yet he just felt so called to make sure people knew about the Eucharist. That was his passion, and he stuck to it regardless of all of the challenges that he went through. So yeah, he's the saint I would say that I'm walking with right now. One of the many Eucharistic saints that I'm walking with right now. I haven't heard of him. Do you have a card of him? I have a book. I don't have a card, but this is a picture of him. Okay, and what's the book? I I'll link it in the show notes. Yeah, it's called The Real Presence. And uh it's just all meditations on the Eucharist. Oh, beautiful. It's really very meeting. Very beautiful. He's one of my favorites right now. But there's so many. I guess many of them are probably more known right now that I'm with, like in the Eucharist that I'm with right now. But he's probably one that isn't well known.

SPEAKER_01 33:10

Yeah. Who are some of the ones that you're walking with that are Eucharistic saints?

SPEAKER_00 33:15

Yeah. So um St. Thomas Aquinas of Adorote Devote, he said something about since Jesus said his real presence, he is, you know, he is um present in the Eucharist. This is my body. That's those are the words. This is my body, that we have to take that as truth. That if that is not truth, then truth isn't true, that it's not speaking clearly. And that just really uh made an impact on me. Uh that, like, yes, that's true. Jesus said he is present in the Eucharist. So then I need to have the faith that he is present. So he's been one of the saints that I've been walking with. Let's see, who else? There's Saint Pierre Giorgio Fersati, Saint Carlo Cutis, uh Saint Teresa of Avala. She had a very strong love for the Mass. And then um Saint John Paul II always pops up a lot.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

Yeah, yeah. I uh went to Sisi back in November, and we had a very special encounter with a relic of Saint Carlo, and then obviously his tomb is there. And one of the things that really sticks to me from that time is a priest was mentioning that one of Carlo's prayers after he received the Eucharist, he would say, Jesus, you are welcome here. Make yourself at home. And so after every time after I receive the Eucharist, I just pray that prayer. So beautiful it is an encounter and it's the most intimate thing that we can do. Absolutely. And I love all your Eucharistic products. Those are my favorite. So that's my favorite too of yours. Yeah, tell us a little bit about some of those.

SPEAKER_00 35:00

Uh they're all the most beloved prayers of the church that are related to the Eucharist. So they help people to grow closer to the Eucharist with the different, the different prayers.

SPEAKER_01 35:12

Yeah. They're beautiful, beautiful cards. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:15

Yeah. The artwork for those were some of my favorite to create. Like the one with the heart and the Eucharist in the shape of a heart with all the hosts. That had been an image that was in my heart for a very long time that I always wanted to paint. And so I was like, this is the perfect, this is the perfect painting. You know, it's the prayer is about the Eucharistic card of Jesus, so this is perfect.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Yeah. And I know Mother Angelica is not technically a saint, but I know you have uh a devotion to her. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

Because Mother Angelica was someone who started EWTN. It's the largest um religious media network in the world. She started that at a at an older age. I can't remember specifically right now what her age was, but she started that. And she, if you've ever read her book, it's by Raymond Arroyo. I think it's called A Nun. You'll have to put it in the show notes what it's called. The act of faith that she had that Jesus would provide at every moment of her life, and was incredible. She just was incredible. And so I found so much inspiration from her of her trust and her faith in the Lord that God called her to do something and she just stepped out in faith and she kept stepping out in faith and she wasn't afraid. So for me, that's that's one reason why she's like a holy hero to me. Because I feel like she encourages me to just keep going and to continue to say yes when it's scary and it's challenging.

SPEAKER_01 36:44

Yes, absolutely. Well, it's like Mother Mary's fiat. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:49

I had no idea what was gonna happen. Yeah, what was that ahead? It's just a matter of trust. That was something for me when I got married. That was the time I would say I was closest to the Blessed Mother, where I came close to the Blessed Mother, is just recognizing that in saying yes to marriage, it was emulating the blessed mother's yes to be the mother of God, just trying to be like her in giving my yes, that you don't know what all the different surprises that might pop up in your vocation after you say yes, but that you know God will be with you just as he was with her and in the sorrows and in the joys.

SPEAKER_01 37:27

Oh my god. And you have quite a few Mother Mary cards. Yeah. Do you have a favorite one or a a Mother Mary that you feel closest to? Um let's see.

SPEAKER_00 37:41

I I love Our Lady of Consolation. No, it's Our Lady of Perpetual Help, actually. It's the novena that started today. There's a part of Jesus' hand on top of the blessed mother's hand. And that is something, an image that I bring to prayer often. Just grabbing the blessed mother's hand and praying, just like Jesus did in that painting. I love that representation. So I would say probably because I'm like a picture and a visual person, that is probably something that like the the image of the blessed mother that I love the most.

SPEAKER_01 38:22

Yes, she's very, very near and dear to us as well because my husband and I were at an abbey and they had this beautiful gift shop, and it was close to his birthday. And I was just really drawn to this image. It's an icon, actually, of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. And we had no idea what it was. But I just kept being drawn to it. And I said, let's get this for your birthday. This will be one of your birthday gifts. And we were at the checkout of the gift shop, and we ran into one of the monks' moms, and we told her about our story about becoming Catholic. She's like, Welcome home. And she's like, That's a beautiful icon. That's our lady of perpetual help. Her feast day is June 27th, and that's my husband's birthday. Oh, wow. Oh, what a consolation. Yes, and we have her hanging up, and it is so it's so tender, so beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 39:15

Yeah. Yeah. So true. Yeah. Yeah, because Jesus is looking at the the ways that he is potentially gonna die with the two angels on the side, and says long for help. Yeah, it's so tender.

SPEAKER_01 39:31

Yeah, yeah. I love Our Lady of Guadalupe, and I know you have a beautiful card of her as well.

SPEAKER_00 39:37

Yeah, she's so beautiful. Having grown up in San Diego, you know, I've seen her image um because of the proximity to Mexico for you know, all of my life. So it was such a joy to to paint a painting that goodness, like that's a painting from heaven, right? That God painted that, that that image was not of this earth, like that that is a heavenly image. Like that's just what an honor to be able to try to capture that.

SPEAKER_01 40:08

Right. And when you hear about the Tilma, how it's completely intact and it should have disintegrated and everything. And even there's been studies with the eyes where you can see reflection from the eye, and it's like no human could have created that. No, it's that mystery, you know, even the Eucharistic miracles that's just so beautiful with our faith. There's so much richness, and I feel like every day's a new day. It does not get old. And yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:38

Well, I mean, the church calendar, like the way the church calendar goes, that we have all things are always changing in different seasons, different saints, different, different months that we can focus on, different devotions. It's so beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 40:52

It's beautiful. And I I love your calendar where it shows you, okay, this novena is happening at this time because it can keep track of all of that. It sure can.

SPEAKER_00 41:00

That is why I came out with it, is because I needed to keep track of it for myself to be able to post on Instagram and to know what day to post when. I thought I'm gonna make a little calendar for myself. And I thought this is helpful for me, or maybe my husband said it, you should, you know, post that. That that would probably be helpful for other people. So I'm glad that it's been a blessing to many people to be able to because otherwise you're counting, like I'm always counting on, you know, when I make the calendar, I do a lot of counting, and so it eliminates the counting. Because typically it'd be so easy to miss the feast day of St. Therese, which is October 1st, because you have to remember in September, oh yeah, her feast day is coming up in October, even though we're not at that month yet. But exactly how many people want to pray the novena to St. Therese.

SPEAKER_01 41:45

That's yes. And even because of your Instagram, I remembered that the Our Lady of Perpetual Help novena started today. So thank you.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

Of course, yeah. It's a joy. It's a joy to be able to sh share the beauty of the faith and yeah, all the things that we get to share online. I find it such a privilege and an honor to be able to do this work.

SPEAKER_01 42:06

Absolutely. Well, it really shines forth in everything you're doing. And yeah, I feel like when we pray more novenas and we're doing those Eucharistic prayers, our intimacy with Christ just explodes in the best possible way. So I love that you're doing what God put into your heart, using your charisms that He's put within you. And He provided. Yes. And you left, you know God is faithful. Yeah. So faithful. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I love to ask all my guests this question because my ministry is called Living Whole and Holy. So I would love to know, Kristen, what it means for you to live whole and holy.

SPEAKER_00 42:45

Yeah. So I think for me it means in this moment of time to for me to be whole is to be in the Eucharist, to be with the Eucharist, to grow in the Eucharist, to meditate on the Eucharist. To me, everything about being whole and then being able to be holy and to be transformed into a saint would be through the power of the Eucharist. So for me, that's my journey right now is it's all about the Eucharist for me.

SPEAKER_01 43:16

Amen. We can't go wrong sitting in front of the blessed sacrament.

SPEAKER_00 43:21

Exactly. Yeah. You can you can become whole and holy just by sitting there, just yes. And growing in virtue.

SPEAKER_01 43:28

Yeah, that's what St. Carlo would say. He would say, if you go out in the sun, you get a tan. If you go in front of the Eucharist, you become holy.

SPEAKER_00 43:37

Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 43:39

Yeah. Well, Kristen, please share where people can find you in your beautiful Instagram page where people can be inspired and remember all the novenas and all the saint days that happen.

SPEAKER_00 43:52

Yeah. Yeah. You can find us at Novena Cards. And then if you want to send the encouragement of your prayers to others, you can find us on our website. At novinacards.com.

SPEAKER_01 44:02

Beautiful. Everybody go check out Kristen's work. It has amplified my prayer life. It's amplified my relationship with Christ. I'm so grateful, Kristen, for this work that you're putting into the world and anything new that's on the horizon for Novena. Oh, St. Monica.

SPEAKER_00 44:20

Yes, I just painted St. Monica. She was the hardest saint I've ever painted. It was very hard. So I'm very excited to hopefully by her feast day or before her feast day to be able to share St. Monica. We have a new spiritual bouquet card coming out in the near future. And then lots of lots of different things coming out in the fourth quarter. So we'll towards the end of the year. So we'll see on that stuff. Can't wait to see it.

SPEAKER_01 44:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:49

Kristen, would you mind closing us in a prayer? Oh, yeah, for sure. In the name of the Father and Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lord, thank you so much for this opportunity to share the journey and um the blessings that you've given in my life. And I pray for everyone out there who's listening to this podcast that they would be filled with your peace and your presence and that you would help them to know how to um how to move forward if they're discerning a um something that you they feel you're calling them to. I pray that you would bring them close to you and remind them of all the different ways that you have blessed them in the past to bring them to the point they're in now and that they would have a greater trust for everything that you're leading them to in the future. Um pray for their yeses, that you would give them a strong yes um every day just to the invitations that you present to all of us. Lord, thank you so much for Carrie's podcast, for her um desire to be a light in the world and to share the gifts and charisms that she has that you've given her um everybody in creating these beautiful conversations and moments for and giving people opportunity to share um what you're doing. And we ask that you would go with us this day and be closer and closer to us in our hearts through the Lord of the Eucharist. Your holy and precious name we pray.

SPEAKER_01 46:29

Thank you so much, Kristen. What an honor and privilege it was to have you on the show today. Thanks so much, Carrie. It's a joy to be here. Um God bless you. You too. Thanks so much for tuning in to the Living Whole and Holy podcast. If you're ready to dive deeper into life coaching from a Catholic perspective, I have a few spots available for one-on-one coaching. This is an amazing opportunity for you to work with someone who will empower you and support you to dream again with God, find more alignment, peace, and confidence in your life, and be the greatest version of who God is calling you to be. I would be so honored to support you on this journey. Send me a DM on Instagram at LivingHole and Holy for a free one on one call to learn more. If this episode blessed you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share with a friend. And remember, instead of doing what makes you happy, do what makes you holy. Until next time, God bless.