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Happy Blessed New Year, Sisters in Christ!

New Year, New You in Christ!

What if the most radical way to reclaim your soul this year is to look at one face and listen? We sit down with Allan Smith to explore the Holy Face of Jesus Devotion, the "Little Way" of St. Therese, and the deep Carmelite spirituality that shaped Venerable Fulton J. Sheen’s life and witness. Together we map a clear path through digital overload, family stress, and spiritual attack by returning to practices that are simple, embodied, and powerful.

Allan Smith unpacks how Venerable Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, the first Catholic bishop to win an Emmy Award, a master communicator, and tireless evangelist, rooted his strength in a hidden life of Eucharistic Adoration.

We trace the story of the Veil of Veronica and why the Church renewed devotion to Christ’s countenance after the 1849 illumination.

You’ll hear how St. Therese joined the Archconfraternity, prayed before the Holy Face, and united small sacrifices to the cross, transforming ordinary frustrations into love. We also offer practical ways to start “Holy FaceTime” at home: place a sacred image where you’ll see it, exchange one scroll for one glance and a short prayer, and teach children to sit in silence before the monstrance with a single posture of the heart: Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.

Spiritual warfare is not abstract. Allan Smith distills Sheen’s three reliable weapons against the demonic: the Holy Name of Jesus, confidence in the Precious Blood, and childlike trust in Mother Mary, who crushes the head of the serpent.

We also discuss how to talk to kids about good and evil without stoking fear, why fewer images and deeper attention heal fragmented minds, and how a daily Holy Hour formed Sheen’s humility for sixty-two unbroken years.

If you’ve been longing for a reset that is holy, hopeful, and do-able, this conversation offers a gentle but firm rule of life anchored in the Eucharist and the face of Christ.

If this stirred something in you, please subscribe, share this with a friend who needs encouragement, and leave a review to help more families find a way back to silence, courage, and prayer.

Allan Smith's ministry spreading the word about Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen can be found here:

https://bishopsheentodaycom

For the Holy Face devotion, please visit

https://holyfacemiracle.ca

Thank you + God bless!

How can we pray for you today?

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What resonated with you the most about this episode? Feel free to email us and let us know!
Email: veilandarmour@gmail.com
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Merry Christmas Eve, Friends in Christ!

We sincerely appreciate your prayers! Every listen, like, comment or subscription is like an answered prayer that the Good News is being heard on the Internet - a space where the battle between good and evil is being fought every single day. Thank you for joining us in that battle, especially with your prayers!

This week, we continue our conversation with Carissa Douglas, homeschooling Mom of 15, author of The Little Douglings and Dougling Adventures series. Carissa also debuts her new baby board book!

The sound of a restless toddler in the pew isn’t a nuisance—it’s a sign of life. We sit down with Carissa Douglas, homeschooling mother of fifteen and creator of the Little Douglings books, to explore how a real prayer life grows in the middle of noise, laundry, and car seats, and why bringing kids to church is an act of hope that shapes souls for years!

Carissa opens up about building a daily rhythm that blends simple prayers with a constant, organic, authentic conversation with God. She shares how lighting candles, praying the Holy Rosary without pressure, and how Eucharistic Adoration with little ones turns doctrine into relationship. We dig into the surprising power of occasional daily Mass to train attention for Sundays, how to navigate discouraging looks with grace, and why praying for your priest changes the culture of a parish. Along the way, Carissa offers practical tips parents can use this week—everything from sippy-cup strategy to letting teens overhear your honest prayers when patience runs thin.

We also tackle homeschooling with nuance: initial fears, the role of community, and the fruit of a gentler schedule that still leads to academic success and real-world dialogue. Carissa explains how she adapts for different learners, including dyslexia, and why the home can foster virtue in a way schools often can’t.

Then we face the smartphone question head-on. Hear why their family chose a phone-free, creative play path, and what kids gain—focus, resilience, deeper friendships—by delaying devices in a culture built on instant scrolls.

Threaded through everything is Mother Mary: a living model of dignity and tenderness who protects purity, calms fears, and teaches daughters to be set apart without apology. Carissa’s newest baby board book, "Mother Mary’s Heart," flows from childhood images of Mary’s care that still steady her today. Come for the ideas, stay for the courage to try one small change. If this conversation strengthens your home or gives you a fresh start, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review to help other families find this hope.

To find Carissa's books, you can visit https://amazon.ca and https://scepterpublishers.org and search for "Carissa Douglas"

or visit https://littledouglings.com

In Canada: https://www.sunrisemarian.com Sunrise Marian Book Store in Waterloo, Ontario

https://primaryeducators.ca

Support the show

To reach Veil + Armour, please visit:
https://veilandarmour.com
https://www.youtube.com/@veilandarmour
https://www.x.com/@sheilanonato
https://www.sheilanonato.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/@veilandarmour

What resonated with you the most about this episode? Feel free to email us and let us know!
Email: veilandarmour@gmail.com
If our podcast helped you in some way, or could help someone else, kindly share our podcast with a friend!

Send us a text

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, please join us in this conversation about Canadian author and children's book illustrator Carissa Douglas: It is a story of how turned a family tragedy into a calling to become a mother of a large family. How did Carissa embrace this noble vocation that's shrouded in much mystery, and sometimes confusion or derision from an anti-Christian world?

Start with a "Yes" and watch your world widen. That’s the heartbeat of our conversation with children’s author, illustrator, and homeschooling mom Carissa Douglas, whose fifteen children (and Carissa lets us in on a surprise in this conversation!) aren’t just a headline but a living testimony to courage, vocation, and trust. We explore how a childhood loss formed a family rooted in hope, how Mother Mary’s Fiat reframes modern fears around motherhood, and how creative work can flourish right in the middle of family life without sacrificing presence.

Carissa shares the origin of "The Little Douglings," a series designed to help children build a real friendship with Jesus in the Eucharist from an early age. As culture grows louder, she chose formation over panic: teaching kids to go directly to Christ so they can withstand the pressures of the culture to abandon faith. We talk about the creative process with toddlers underfoot, the surprising grace of detachment when a Sharpie hits a finished illustration, and how digital tools opened new ways to write and draw while staying close to her kids.

We also lean into big questions many families carry: Is a large family too expensive, too chaotic, too hard? Carissa answers with lived wisdom how it's all rooted in God's grace and His Divine Providence —prudence, a mentality of sharing God's blessings, generosity from our neighbours, and God’s quiet provision that shows up right on time. Beyond logistics, a large family becomes a school of virtue where generosity, work ethic, and other-centeredness take root. For teens, faith becomes adventure, not afterthought, with saints like Padre Pio guiding stories that rival any superhero arc and direct young hearts toward purpose.

If you’re discerning marriage, craving deeper meaning in motherhood, or searching for a way to form children who can withstand the cultural headwinds, this one’s for you. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs courage today, and leave a review to help more listeners find these stories of faith, family, and fearless yes.

Are you in search of faith-filled, Christian books for your teens, tweens or littel ones? You can find Carissa's books filled with beautiful illustrations that she designed and a story that was crafted from her lived experience in her family of 18 here on this website: https://littledouglings.com

They are also available at Sunrise Marian

https://sunrisemarian.com

https://scepterpublishers.org/products/copy-of-little-douglings-series?srsltid=AfmBOoqCZGzZ-PhSAHiQN0oOWHIQ7Wt3bb0ljrqiu7mnDH1FU8UqrkmP

Wishing you and your family a Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year! Please join us next time for the continuation of the conversation with Carissa Douglas about how to pass on the faith to our children, and continued exploration of the feminine genius of

Support the show

To reach Veil + Armour, please visit:
https://veilandarmour.com
https://www.youtube.com/@veilandarmour
https://www.x.com/@sheilanonato
https://www.sheilanonato.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/@veilandarmour

What resonated with you the most about this episode? Feel free to email us and let us know!
Email: veilandarmour@gmail.com
If our podcast helped you in some way, or could help someone else, kindly share our podcast with a friend!