Saturday in Old Town

I went to the Daughters of St. Paul bookstore in Old Town, Alexandria. It's very nice. The nuns are kind and patient but I always felt it lacked something. Today I finally was able to figure out what that is: Tradition. You can buy new Catholic books thre. You can buy all kinds of bibles except the Duay Rheims. You can buy stuff on Medjugorje and the charismatics but they only have one book on purgatory and it's a poor book at that. The store is geared towards people who practice Catholicism lite. If you want serious works, or great classics the only option is Tan Books online or Roman Catholic Books.

Later I went to confession at St. Mary's a few blocks away. The line was long but it moved lightning fast. People were going in and coming out like pinballs. Some of them looked perplexed. When I got into the confessional I understood why. The priest didn't speak to me at all except to give me my pennace. The whole thing took less than five minutes and that was mostly me confessing.

I was shocked but God works things out in ways we can't understand. I had some painful things to confess and perhaps it's best that the priest obviously wasn't paying me any attention. The sacrament was still valid and all that stuff is wiped away and off my soul. That's all that really counts.