Mass with Fr. Marchado

Fr. Clement Marchado, SOLT celebrated a healing Mass last night at St. Anthony's in DC. The church is between the Basilica and the Franciscan monastery. It has plenty of parking, lovely, happy priests and the Blessed Sacrament is right in the middle of the santuary. Because of Rocky's arthritis we decided to go. Fr. Marchado belongs to the same order as Fr. Corapi so we knew he could preach and preach he did. Before Mass he blessed everyone's rosaries, medals, crucifixes, statutes, oil and salt. I got to confession and after Mass everyone who wanted it, got an individual blessing. The Knights of Columbia and the ushers provided crowd control and were there to catch anyone who was overcome during the blessing. Father must have read my soul and thought that I really needed a blessing because he annointed me with so much oil that I looked like a small greased pig when we left the church.

Mass of the Ages

Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. When Rocky told me I thought he was on a joke website but no..... this farce is not worthy of comment so instead I'll concentrate on the beautiful and the true....






See more at this lovely site.

A Padre Pio evening

Yesterday we went to St. Mary's in Alexandria, Virginia to hear Fr. Ermelindo DeCapua give a talk on Padre Pio. Fr. DiCapua lived with Padre Pio for the last three years of the saint's life. He brought a precious relic, one of the gloves that covered Padre Pio's stigmata and blessed us all with it. Rocky estimated that there must've been about 600 people in attendence. Fr. DiCapua is touring America and raising funds for a home for sick old priests to retire to.

Jezu ufam Tobie!

That's Polish for Jesus, I trust in You! Rocky and I went to the Divine Mercy Shrine in Baltimore. It's stunning and a very special place becuase the former pastor Fr. Pytel was blessed with the miracle needed for St. Faustina's cannonization. We also stopped by the Seton House and St. Alphonsus.

the kindest of men--Rocky

Yesterday Rocky took my mother to Target and to Bed Bath & Beyond. She hasn't been shopping in four months so it was a major buying trip and yes, he spent hours pushing the cart around and making trips to the car. And then he took us all to dinner. Later he restocked her supply of bottled water and hooked up her HDTV cables. Rocky loves my mother and anytime she need something he's there.

Christopher West, the Catholic sexologist probably wouldn't be too impressed but I'm so grateful to have such a good, kind man for my husband.

Earlier this week a woman I know mentioned that she showed her husband a job posting that would, if he got it, take him to Iraq or Afghanistan for a year. She said she'd miss him but all the bills and a good chunk of the mortgage could be paid off. My reaction was to think that she was kidding, then it was to wonder WTH was wrong with her. I just looked at her while she excitedly talked about the job.

Now granted, Rocky and I have a very different relationship than she and her husband do and we have only been apart for about two weeks in the last 21 years (I had to go to South Carolina to take care of some family business and he couldn't get off from work) but I can't imagine --not on my worst most bitchy day actually wanting him to go to a war zone (bombs, fire, dead buddies, possibly getting your head sawed off) to fix our finances. I feel sorry for that woman's husband, who already has a job that he apparently likes by the way, and I hope his feelings weren't hurt. A loving husband is more than just a paycheck.

St. Therese, send me a rose.........

Don't go to Medjugorje

The local bishop has made his views as clear as day. So much money has been made and so many people have hung their faith on this, (false, I think) apparition that I suspect the show will go on in disobedience to the bishop.

Don't go to Medjugorje. Go to Lourdes, go to Fatima, go to Akita or Knock. Go somewhere that has been judged worthy of belief.

This made me laugh

I saw this on the Athanatius Contra Mundum blog. Most of the posters were horrified but I had to laugh. Why? Because this is exactly what Mass was like when I was a little kid. In fact, if you go to a hippie parish that's full of 60somethings, the Mass is probably still like this. The first time I heard Latin in church and later, chant I thought it sounded like Heaven. To this day I prefer a silent Mass over anything that involves a band and a guitar.

Well, I'm not going back there again.

There are three churches in my diocese that I will never set foot in again hopefully.
St. Charles Boromeo in Arlington, Good Shepherd and Queen of Peace. St. Charles has a really strange vibe and after reading this I see why.

The race thing

I am the descendant of West African slaves and Irish immigrants with a few rogue Scots thrown in for extra spice. There are great tragedies and triumphs in my family tree. My ancestors paid a hell of a price for me to be here today and it irks me when people try to put me in a category box. I am not an African-American. I don't do hyphens. I've traced my mother's family tree back to the 1800s. That's several generations removed from Africa. My folks have been here a long time and have a mighty stake in this country though schemers like Jesse Jackson try to claim otherwise. I am an American, thank you.

Perhaps if Thomas Jefferson had supported his son-in-law's efforts to ban slavery, perhaps if Abraham Lincoln hadn't gone to the Ford theater, perhaps if more people had only listened to Booker T. Washington my kin would've had a different fate in this country but that's not how things went down and it can't be changed.

A lot of nice, well meaning white people voted for Obama thinking that it would somehow heal the race issues of this country. I knew that it wouldn't and in fact, I think the race thing has gotten worse. Say one word against Obama's policies and you get the racist card flung in your face. That's not right.


I don't know how to say this but here goes. A lot of black people hate you. Sorry. They hate you because their parents taught them to do it and the parents learned it from their parents. It was a survival mechanism back in the Jim Crow days. So today we have people who never went to a lynching, never knocked a black child down the stairs for kicks, never practiced placage with their black maid or committed outright rape, and wouldn't even dream of or approve of such things being loathed by blacks who never experienced any of that but believe today's whites are still capable of this.

What's the answer? Prayer, honesty and love for our country, I guess. In the mean times things are going to nastier. A lot nastier.

we are in trouble

I never thought I'd see this in America, never.








Our Lady, Queen of the Americas, pray for us. Mother, I know we don't deserve it but please pray for us.

St. Stephen, Martyr in Middleburg

Rocky had a rare Saturday off so we made the most of it. We visited the incredibly beautiful Long Branch in Millwood and trooped around the Virginia State Arboretum. I'm a bird watcher and was delighted to see one of the these little guys: a White breasted Nuthatch.

We checked Masstimes.org for the closest church and decided to go to St. Stephen's. I expected it to be a bit of an adventure. Middleburg is a special place. It's quiet old money and horses and skinny women who stay that way because they ride hard after the hounds. It's a place where you better not fake it because everyone knows if you belong or not. It's a place where flashy bad taste is not tolerated and new money means nothing. Sean Combs and Paris Hilton would be miserable.

The old woman in faded jeans and an ancient barn coat walking by is heiress to one of the biggest fortunes in America, the red faced "farmer" in the car full of dogs gave the money for most of the art exhibits you went to last year. The fresh faced little cherub on a pony is the son of a business titan. The daintly little cupcake of a girl at the ice cream stand spends her days training powerful, nervous thoroughbreds. It's that kind of place.

So when we rolled into St. Stephens I was delighted to find that nobody gave us the stinkeye. In fact, people were nice. No-one appeared to be disturbed or even surprised by our presence. Father had a gentle but clever sense of humor and gave an impressive homily.

The church decor is interesting. It's so carefully inoffensive that I think it must have built with the desire that it blend in with the rest of town. The paint is colonial white and blue gray. The statues are small and pale. The painting of St. Stephen is frankly, bad but the altar is large and tall and the Blessed Sacrament is right in front. You will not have to wander around this small church trying to figure out where Our Lord is. Mass was gentle and blessedly free of any weirdness. The music was okay. The cantor's voice was lovely. The lector did not show off. The decently dressed parishioners were prayerful before Mass and there was not a mad rush to leave after Communion. I was impressed by the very well behaved children. Since the Aboretum is open 365 days a year and is free, Rocky and I plan to get back there so we'll probably be praying at St. Stephen's again sometime.

Soft hearts are usually accompanied by softer brains

I don't give a dime to the Catholic Campaign for Human Developement because much of what it does is not Catholic. And it turns out that they give money to ACORN.

have you ever seen Christian art so bad that you cringed?

I think I may have found something that goes beyond kitsch.

Betraying our dead

This op/ed pretty much sums up how I feel.

9/11.......Eternal rest grant unto them oh Lord

We sit by and watch the Barbarian, we tolerate him; in the long stretches of peace we are not afraid. We are tickled by his irreverence, his comic inversion of our old certitudes and our fixed creeds refreshes us; we laugh. But as we laugh we are watched by large and awful faces from beyond: and on these faces there is no smile.
Hillaire Belloc

Pray for Fr. McBrien

Fr. McBrien is one of those priests who won't wear a cassock or his clericals. He is also, sadly one of those who turns his nose up at spending one hour with Jesus. When a priest starts talking in public like Fr. McBrien does you know that something has gone terribly wrong with his Faith and his vocation.

"Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament... " J.R.R. Tolkein

Old Labor day blues and Everybody knows

When I was a girl I always hated Labor Day because it meant I'd have to go back to school the next day. And one of the most hated parts of going to school was the annual "How I spent my vacation" essay. I, and all the working class kids at school loathed that. Our parents didn't spend weeks at the beach and there was no cabin at the lake. One or two of us had a relative who Summered but they were like my great aunt, Betsy, who was a nanny and spent her Summer at Hyannis taking care of someone else's kids. We were lucky--- very lucky if we got to go to an amusement park or a day trip to the beach at any time in the whole three months off. When I was very young my mother and I packed up and took the train to granny's house in South Carolina but that stopped once Mama went back to work when I was seven. My father, let me hasten to say, was a champion at taking me places on the weekend but as much as I enjoyed that it seemed so dull compared to the stuff the "rich" kids were writing about.

One of the attorneys at work was complaining that "in this economy" (I'm sick of that phrase) she and her husband will be doing a "staycation" and only will only spend a week at Martha's Vineyard this year. I looked at her and thought, "You make 170k and you want me at 42k to make sympathetic noises at you? You silly cow. "

I'm a bit sorry for that reaction but it's nothing compared to my father-in-law, Big Daddy, who spent his Summers working in the fields from sunup to sundown. If I were foolish enough to mention any vacation that Rocky and I have gone on he woud have (and has in the past) say or do something spectacularly offensive to force a change of subject matter.
..............................

Some people are still scandalized/saddened that Cardinal O'Malley was at Teddy Kennedy's funeral. Oh quit crying and get real folks. Is the sky rose colored in your world? Everybody knows what the dealio is in Boston. When has any high ranking clergyman ever said no to the Kennedy's? Of course O'Malley was there. At some point in your life a bishop will let you down, or even break your heart. But our faith is not tied to the failings or lack of spine of bishops. St. Athanatius and St. John Fisher are saints becuase they alone stood up when all their brothers decided to comprimise. Athanatius suffered a dry martydom of banishment and constant attack. St. John Fisher was beheaded and his body desecrated.

Take your precious gift of Faith and live for the Eucharist. Trust the Lord, trust Mary, trust Pope Benedict.

Be grateful that the Papal Nuncio was not there and be grateful that the Pope made no public condolence and that the Holy Father's letter to Senator Kennedy was no more than generic pleasantries. Be grateful that the Kennedy show is for all practical purposes, over. The only one of Joe and Rose Kennedy's children left, is Jean--- poor woman, it must be very sad to be the last sibling left--- and the Kennedy children are not impressive at all. The smartest ones seem to be Caroline and Jospeh and they are somewhat lacking once you get past the glamour.

Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Someone left a child's book about Mary in the vestibule of my church. I read it and the first couple of chapters were charming but because the author was a member of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Fr. Feeney's group, I was cautious. And sure enough there was a problem. The author seemed to have a tremendous issue with Jews. When the book got to St. Joseph it states that God chose him for Mary because the saint was not a typical Jew in that he did not take part in the pursuit of money or power. Can you say stereotype, boys and girls? St. Joseph was not tycoon, obviously but he didn't work for free. He didn't go skipping around Nazareth with daisies and daydreams. Mary and Jesus lived off of what he made so I'm certain that he was quite serious about getting paid for his work.

The book then went on to state that St. Joseph went to the synagogue but had no official position there since he was not a show off. He even had (according to the book a gentile type job because Jews weren't good builders! I wonder who the author thought built all the houses and buildings in Israel. I almost never throw a book into the trash. I'll donate them, give them to friends or sell them but this thing had so little redeeming value I just couldn't pass it on to anyone else.

and baby makes 19

Mrs. Duggar is expecting another baby. This will make 19. I have no problem with the Duggars. Jim Bob and Michelle are married. The children and clean, healthy and seem happy. And they aren't on welfare so it's no business of mine how many kids they have. My only question is what kind of muscle tone does she have left? By now she must be depending on a girdle and adult diapers to keep everything in place.

God bless them all though. It takes a tough woman to be a mama. It's not for sissies.

iconfess

Father Michael Jude Fay died

Fr. Fay, the fallen Connecticut priest who embezzeled roughly a million dollars from his parish to finance his lavish lifestyle has died in prison. Being a prisoner must have been nigh on to unbearable for him. There are no Waterford crystal goblets, no beautiful decorations, no gorgeous flower arrangements and no pretty, prancing companions. I hope that in that prison he remembered Jesus and found peace.

Pray for our priests, the fallen ones, the straying ones, the ones who have given scandal, and the ones in Purgatory. And pray especially, for Fr. Michael Madden, the parochial vicar who exposed Fr. Fay and says he was threatened by the bishop for speaking up. Fr. Madden said that the four years he spent living in the rectory with Fr. Fay was a living hell and brokenhearted by the whole disgusting spectacle he has since left the priesthood. The priesthood has not left him, however,and God willing, someday he'll come back.


St. John Vianney, pray for us.
Blessed Brother Andre, pray for us.
Blessed Solanus Casey, pray for us.
Servant of God, Archbishop Sheen, pray for us.
Servant of God, Father Vincent Capadano, pray for us.
St. Therese, who did so love priests and sacraficed so much for them, pray for us.

The shadow of death

This is an interesting painting by William Hunt. I don't think it quite succeeds. I like the way Mary is shown as being startled and alarmed by the shadow of her Son that looks like a crucifixion. But why is the Lord shown as being half dressed in public? And why are thy both barefoot in a workshop full of sharp objects and stone and wood chips? It must have been splinter central.

The ghastly King Herod

Queen Mariamne leaving the court of Herod.

I was thinking about King Herod last night. His life would make an epic movie. While still a teenager he became an effective warrior. He fell in love with and asked for the hand of Princess Mariamne, the daughter of the high priest and a descendant of the last true kings of Israel. In order to marry Mariamne, he cast off his first wife Doris and his three year old son. Caesar, Marc Antony and Octavian were well disposed towards him, the son of their loyal friend and when he had destroyed his enemies once and for all he went to Rome and was made king of the Jews. Palestine was his.

And then he turned into something that the Greek playrights and centuries later, Shakespeare would've understood very well. He became insanely jealous of Mariamne, once, according to Jospehus, even fretting that she was intrested in Marc Antony, who by that time was clearly and totally in love with Cleopatra. His subjects hated him-- a foreigner, an upstart son of a servant to the last true king and they resented his Roman connections. Mariamne had a little brother who naturally had far more claim to the throne than he did and when the boy was 19 or 20, Herod had him killed. Though they loathed Herod, Mariamne and her brother were well thought of by the people and this murder must have horrified them.

I'd love to see a young Sophia Loren playing the part of Mariamne. Imagine what she must have felt. Eventually Herod's jealousy led him to listen to ambitious courtiers who claimed that Mariamne was unfaithful. He put her to death and regretted it immediately afterwards. He had what appears to be something a nervous breakdown and fled to his Summer palace for months. When he returned he went on to kill his mother-in-law, his uncle, three or four of his sons, a brother-in-law and menaced his brother, who died on his own before Herod could kill him. And of course he slaughtered his unhappy subjects at will. It's easy to see why killing 20 or so peasant babes in Bethlehem wouldn't have made him bat an eyelash.

He later married Cleopatra of Jerusalem, Mariamne II, Malthace, Phaidra, Pallas, and Elpis. Were any of them happy even for a day, I wonder? History doesn't tell us. Herod was like the Henry VIII of the ancient world, a promising youth who became an ogre. He attempted to Hellenize Israel, but the common people resisted the gentile influence. He famously rebuilt the temple but his lack of religious faith, or sincerity and the inclusion of Roman Eagles to the temple gates shocked and offended the people. Brave young rabbinical students took those eagles down and paid for it with their lives.

Some scholars believe that Herod died of gangrene or a hell of a case of scabies. Others think it was kidney disease. I wonder if his paranoia and depressive episodes didn't stem from secondary syphilis. His story really is one of the most horrifying of the ancient world.

Fr. Aragorn says Mass --God bless whomever filmed it

I bought a new veil

It's gray and had made by a very nice lady. Check her work out at:

http://joy.niklas.us/

should John Paul II be cannonized?

This dude says no.

I think he's too harsh and is wrong on a couple of points. Meeting with victims would've accomplished nothing except provide a phot op for a Catholic hating media. The Holy Father should no more apologize for the sins of other people than I am for the sins of my cousin who went to jail several years ago for doing something really, really bad.

Plus, some victims claimed abuse decades after the accused priest was dead. I wouldn't trust that. It may sound unkind, but if you have no evidence either biologicalor material, no witnesses, nothing but your word against a dead guy then your story has to be suspect. That's the deal for Joe Blow and it ought to be the deal for Father.

I do believe, however, that JPII made mistakes. I think he was way too soft and was held back by the fear of schism. And then there is the kissing the koran thing--- St. Francis would've died first. However, his personal holiness has never been in question, even by his harshest critics. At any rate the cannonizatin process needs to be slowed down and cool heads need to look into things.

Enfant Terribles of Catholic blogville

There are three male Catholic bloggers; two are big time, one is arriving to that point, who bother me. I don't read them anymore but I've wondered why they annoy me. Then it came to me. All three remind me of Truman Capote, who was a little monster.

Before anyone get's the wrong idea, I'm not talking their sex lives. I mean that Capote was smart, maybe a genius, and talented but he was horribly spoiled. He was the little prince, the complete center of attention in his circle and when he wasn't, he got spiteful.

He wrote a vicious roman a clef about his friends in his latter years as a payback for some slight, real or imagined and apparently hinted that he wrote To Kill a Mockingbird for his childhood friend, Harper Lee. You either worshipped Capote and agreed with everything he said or you were an idiot, low class, nasty and deserving of scorn.

Like Capote, these three male bloggers talk a good tough game but seem thin skinned when readers don't stick to their script. Commenters better stick to "Gee, you're so smart. Those traditionalists are so dumb. You're so brave. (Brave? Really?) Your book changed my life. All the good Catholics are with you...." or they get banned or mocked.

There is something so small and precious and enfant terrible about all three of these fellows. I get the impression that all of them spent a lot of time on their mama's laps while being told how aborable and brilliant they were and very little time hanging around other guys. It's interesting in a virus under the microscope sort of way but for the life of me, I can't understand how these guys got to be so important in the world of professional Catholics and why so many people take them seriously.

And there's one more thing. When I see a lay person (this may or may not apply to one or more of the bloggers I'm talking about) who makes their living off of the Church I get nervous. My gut reaction is "Hey bud, who the heck are you? By what authority do you teach? What seminary did you go to and what bishop laid his hands on you? Who gave your book a public imprimatur? What reputable clergyman back up your teaching?

Tis a puzzlement as the King of Siam once said.

The First Catholics in Virginia Monument

This crucifix was erected in 1930 by the Catholic Woman's Club of Richmond, in honor of the first Catholic settlement in Virginia in 1650.
Rocky and I try to stop and say a prayer there everytime we go through Aquia, Virginia.

thank you, Congressman Cao

The Honorable gentleman from Louisiana is not going to vote for the Obama throw-granny-from-the-train bill. God bless you, sir.

insignificant details

Back in the 80s young Tom Cruise made an appalling movie called Legend. Tim Curry was a demon named Darkness who wanted to kill all the unicorns for some reason and marry the fairy princess. I can only remember two things about the movie; how incredbly cheap looking and corny it was and these lines that were like diamonds glittering in a mud hole:

Blix: "Its just a female lord, she has no power."
Darkness: "Only the power of creation!"

The power of creation, the power to be a mother. The devil hates that and hates womankind. On Lair of the Catholic Cavemen there is a powerful post about a nun, Sr. Simone, who doesn't wear a habit, doesn't teach, doesn't nurse, doesn't spend her days in contemplative prayer who thinks that people are opposing Obama's healthcare disaster in the making because of insignificant details. I don't know what order this nun belongs to but I hope it dies out soon.

Blogger, Vir Speluncae Catholicus has a unflincing photo of one of those "insignificant details," an aborted baby. I gasped at that photo and wondered how in the hell this happens. How does a "normal" person do abortions day in and day out? If I did an animal like that I'd be a sick freak and at the very least my neighbors would avoid me. If I did an adult like that I'd end up in prison. But subjecting a pre-born baby to such cruelty is legal and hip and all the cool kids smile scornfully at you if you object to it. And then I remembered, Hell of course. The devil hates babies almost as much as he hates woman. He whispers in our ears. He tells us that if we are to be free we must be tough, we must be cold, we must imitate the worst aspects of male behavior and we must deny, delay or destroy that power of creation thing. We must out Medea, Medea, we have ignore those insignificant little details.

St Joseph, pray for us

I've never seen an image of St. Joseph and young Jesus that I really liked. This one by artist, John Collier is the best I've ever seen.

Shrine of the Infant of Prauge, Wakefield Virginia

Rocky and I had a wonderful vacation. We spent hours at the Virginia Living Museum, went to the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, the Naval Museum in Norfolk, toured Bacon's Castle in Surry, visited both Ft. Boykin and Ft. Huger and hung around Jamestown. Rocky got a good look at the ghost fleet from Ft. Huger and in Newport News we got a good look at a carrier that was being serviced at the shipyard. We lolled about on the boardwalk at Virginia beach and were delighted at how cool the temps were on the ocean.

We went to the Infant of Prague shrine in Wakefield, which is pretty close to where we stayed (Foursquare Bed & Breakfast, Smithfield, VA). The shrine is a little wooden church with a magnificent tabernacle and a beautiful statue of the Infant. Mass was wonderful. The locals are used to tourists and are genuinely nice people. We felt welcomed. People smiled and said hello. When the sign of peace came we got genuine handshakes, not the Northern Virginia cold jellyfish shake--- I hate the sign of peace but at the shrine is was okay. After Mass we chatted with the priest. He went to the seminary with our Bishop Loverde. The Catholic world is vast but very small too. If you're in the Tidewater area try to get over to the shrine. They only have one Mass there in the Summer, the 5 PM vigil.

Later in the week we went to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Norfolk. It's a historic Virginia landmark, and is Virginia's only basilica. Again, everyone greeted us kindly and I sang songs during Mass that I haven't heard since I was a child at St. Augustine's in DC.

Finally, I learned a good lesson abut traveling with a diabetic. Don't wait until they say they're hungry. At noon or at least one start looking around a for restaraunt or they'll feel sick.

vacation --

i have no idea what i did with my swimsuit last summer but me, Rocky and my mama are heading out to my favorite place in the world the Tidewater of Virginia.

In your charity, please pray for our dear Fr. Theoden

"Forth! Down fear of darkness! Arise! Arise, Riders of Théoden! Spears shall be shaken, shields shall be splintered! A sword day... a red day... and the sun rises! Ride now... Ride now... Ride! Ride for ruin and the world's ending! Death!"

Mary Jo Kopechne died 40 years ago today

When Teddy Kennedy dies he'll probably be surrounded by family and friends. A priest, if not the cardinal will come to his bedside and give him Last Rites. Someone will croon French, (Rose Kennedy spoke fluent French and so did her son, JFK) or perhaps even Gaelic to him as he slips away. Later thousands will view the body in both Boston and DC and despite Church rules there will be eulogy after eulogy at the funeral. If the family asks for it, Danny Boy will be sung and the cardinal, his favorite priest and the Papal Nuncio will probably be co-celebrants. It will be one heck of a send off.

When I was a child Teddy ran a half hearted campaign for president. My father, a devoted Democrat said he'd vote for him but he'd never win. "Why", I asked. " A place called Chapaquidick," my father explained. A girl was killed accidentally in a car Ted was driving and although he'd always be king in Massachusetts, a dead girl was just too much for the rest of the country. My father said no more about the matter and I went back to playing with my Barbies.

When Teddy passes beyond the veil anyone who mentions Mary Jo's name will be sneered at as a meanie so I'll say it now and I'll say how sad it was that no-one was there to give the poor silly miss Last Rites or to hold her in their arms as she slipped away and no cardinal held her mother and father's hands at her funeral.

God bless you, Holy Father

Dear

Lord, keep Thy servant, Benedict close to you

as he carries his own cross.

Amen

Some times I wonder

what has gotten into our bishops. They say we should welcome illegal immigrants with open arms because they are fellow Catholics and their faith is so much more strong and vibrant that ours. Because we Americans practice contraception we will be, the narrative goes, die out and the American church will joyously become Latinized as in Latin America. We should, we are told, embrace this and get with the program. The Whispers in the Loggia blog harps on this theme all the time.

Now, there is cause for concern about catechesis in America. Most Catholics don't seem to know or care about what the Church teaches. Many Catholics don't even go to Mass anymore except for Christmas, Easter and Ash Wenesday. But importing Latin American will not fill the pews or fix the problem. Do the bishops not read the newspaper or visit their own parishes? Gautemala, which like most of Latin America was once solidly Catholic; now it's half Catholic and half Evangelical. In Mexico, drug cartels have openly threatened priests and recently a priest and two seminarians were murdered there. All is not well.

The Charismatic movement seems to have gotten a toe hold in the Spanish speaking community here in Virginia and that is worrisome. Writhing on the floor to rock music doesn't have much to do with the faith of St. Juan Diego, St. Rose of Lima or the Holy Father. I know of a number of priests who find themselves in a dilemma. If they curb some excesses (I can't go into detail here because I don't want to get anyone in trouble) they'll be called a racist so they turn a blind eye and tell their American parishioners to hush the grumbling or to be patient.

Do the bishops not open their eyes when they travel? Little store front Spanish speaking only Protestant churches are everywhere. Not everyone from Latin America is a devout Catholic. That's a stereotype, baby. So far, I've seen two botanica (voodoo) shops in Alexandria and Arlington. The bishops are highly educated men, surely they know all this so why the constant happy talk?

Sure, welcome the legal immigrant who has skills that we can use and encourage him mightily. Welcome the legal immigrant to church and don't let him slip/or force him into a liturgical ghetto either. I realize how the liturgical ghetto thing happend. Catholics in Northern Virginia are not that friendly, period. If people are staring at Rocky and I when we show up for Mass what must it be like for someone from a different country?

But the current approach the bishops have taken isn't working and you don't need a degree in Theology to see it. The oxygen in the ivory tower must be too thin.

For the King of Friday

Jesus, sold for thirty pieces of silver, *
Jesus, prostrate on the ground in prayer,
Jesus, strengthened by an angel,
Jesus, in Thine agony bathed in a bloody sweat,
Jesus, betrayed by Judas with a kiss,
Jesus, bound by the soldiers,
Jesus, forsaken by Thy disciples,
Jesus, brought before Annas and Caiphas,
Jesus, struck in the face by a servant,
Jesus, accused by false witnesses,
Jesus, declared guilty of death,
Jesus, spat upon,
Jesus, blindfolded,
Jesus, smitten on the cheek,
Jesus, thrice denied by Peter,
Jesus, despised and mocked by Herod,
Jesus, clothed in a white garment,
Jesus, rejected for Barabbas,
Jesus, torn with scourges,
Jesus, bruised for our sins,
Jesus, esteemed a leper,
Jesus, covered with a purple robe,
Jesus, crowned with thorns,
Jesus, struck with a reed upon the Head,
Jesus, demanded for crucifixion by the Jews,
Jesus, condemned to an ignominious death,
Jesus, given up to the will of Thine enemies,
Jesus, loaded with the heavy weight of the Cross,
Jesus, led like a sheep to the slaughter,
Jesus, stripped of Thy garments,
Jesus, reviled by the malefactors,
Jesus, promising Paradise to the penitent thief,
Jesus, commending St. John to Thy Mother as her son,
Jesus, declaring Thyself forsaken by Thy Father, Jesus, in Thy thirst given gall and vinegar to drink,
Jesus, testifying that all things written concerning Thee were accomplished,
Jesus, commending Thy spirit into the hands of Thy Father,
Jesus, obedient even to the death of the cross,
Jesus, pierced with a lance,
Jesus, made a propitiation for us,
Jesus, taken down from the cross,
Jesus, laid in the sepulcher,
Have mercy on us.

i noticed an odd thing this week

Many Catholic bloggers weighed in on Michael Jackson's death, to plop loose green shit on his corpse mostly but very few bloggers had anything to say about the Caritas scandal in Boston. Perhaps it's because taking a shot at Jackson was easy and seeming to pick on good ole Cardinal Sean seemed hard. But the Caritas scandal was not about picking on Cardinal Sean.

The cardinal, in order to keep his health care operation going was apparently going to accept the state's requirement that abortion services be provided to patients who requested them, even if it was "just" referring them to abortionists off site.

The entity that was going to handle this was CeltiCare. 49% of CeltiCare was owned by Caritas. Although the archdiocese denied it repeatedly, Caritas was essentially going to be involved in the abortion business.

Let that roll around in your head for a minute. Let it boggle your noggin. Now think about the early martyrs who died horribly rather than offer incense to Caesar. Think about Sts. Agatha, Lucy, Anastasia, Perpetua and Felicity. Think about the martyrs whose names are now known only to God who were told, "Look, you are young and handsome. Why give your life over a technicality? Just whisper to me that Caesar is lord and I'll let you go. Cooperate with the system and you will live." The Caritas deal was an insult to the memory of the martyrs. It was an insult to every pro life worker in Boston. It was an insult to every slaughtered in the womb, baby.

Well now, the deal is off. A few bloggers have mentioned the story in the last two days to congratulate the cardinal on doing the right thing but they fail to mention that it was a bunch of inelegant, unsophisticated Joe and Jane in the back pew lay people who kept asking annoying questions and kept publicizing the story who are to be congratulated. They are the reason Caritas won't be involved in abortions, not the cardinal. I say this, not to pick on the cardinal but to give credit where it is due. Jane and Joe in the back pew, you rock. If I drank beer, I'd raise a Dos Equs in your honor.

Now every blogger writes about what means the most to them. That's the beauty of the blog. Sometimes you get stories about the blogger's cat and sometimes you get stories about Catholics in Siberia. It just struck me as weird that the big time professional, serious issue, serious Catholic bloggers took time to mock Jackson, which should've been beneath them (see footnote) and had nothing to say about a stunning Catholic scandal, that could've had national implications because if Caritas had gotten away with this don't think it couldn't happen in your diocese.

And the most puzzling comments came from ultra serious people who claim to know nothing about pop music or the national zeitgeist. You know, the folks who swear they haven't' watched TV or seen a movie in years, sew their own deliberately ugly dresses, and who grow heirloom tomatoes and for fun reenact the Battle of Hastings in the back yard with their perfectly perfect kids. And speaking of the kids, each one was conceived after grimly praying Tobit's prayer, consulting the chart and stoicly going into the marital embrace.

To each his own but for someone like that to talk about pop music is kind of like an Old Order Mennonite telling young Elvis how to shake a leg or a Mormon telling Sonny Boy Williamson how to play the harmonica. All in all, I would've preferred to have read about their cat, Benedictus.


Foot note
(I once was in a car pool with a Jehovah's Witness. She was a bore but no hypocrite. When she turned on the car radio and heard Boys to Men singing a sweet love song she cried out, "The devil's music!," turned off the radio. She neither knew nor gave a damn who was on the music Top 40 list. Ole Bessie said pop music was beneath her and refused to talk about it. Anyone fool enough to mention Prince, Cameo or even Earth Wind and Fire to her would've gotten a basilisk stare and an offer to conduct a Bible study. As I said, ole Bessie was a crashing bore but she walked her talk)

Hideous Mass

I just watched an incredibly hideous Mass on EWTN. It took place at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Melrose Park, IL. I was astonished at the ugliness of the church and the poor dress of the people. Every other woman was wearing the fat lady's cop out outfit: big flowered, sleeveless blouses and polyester shorts or shapeless skirt. The men, even the skinny guys had the fat guy's cop out outfit: the Hawaian or bowling shirt over sweat pants or the sansabelt pants. The poor Knights of Columbus who were present looked like they were doing a penance.

The music was appalling. At one point a man and woman got up and sang "The Prayer", a sticky sweet pop song by Josh Groban. Ewwww! Judging by the sour expressions on the faces of the people in the pews when the camera panned over them, a lot of people didn't like it. At one point the priest was providing commentary jokingly asked how long this was going to go on. The Mass was poorly filmed--- but I'll give them a break on this, maybe they are not used to broadcasting. This was all to dedicate a new statue of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. The statue is gorgeous but looks strange in such an ugly, stuck in the 1970s place.

Yip, yip, yip! I gotta an award.

The rules are to say thanks to the presenter. That's easy.

Thanks Joe! I hope you find the right seminary.

Second, I have to say ten honest things about myself. Hmmm.

1. I don't give a damn about the Iranians. The lesser of two evils, (the Mousavi (sp.) guy was involved in the Lebanon bombing that killed over 200 of our Marines)) is still evil. If they are fighting each other hopefully they'll be too busy to use their nukes on Israel. The protestors may wear jeans but I'll bet you they'd spit on Jewish Levi Strauss if he came back to life and were to walk into one of their mosques.
2. I loathe feminists.
3. Unless there is no other Mass to go to within a 20 mile radius, if the cantor whips out a guitar and/drums I'm out of there.
4. I think George Lucas completely botched Padme's death and her relationship with Anakin in Revenge of the Sith.
5. Otis Redding makes me cry.
6. I want a basso profundo to sing Dies Irae at my funeral.
7. I don't like holding newborn babies. When they can hold their own heads up it's fine but I worry that I'm doing it wrong with the brand new ones.
8. I love the smell of a river or creek.
9. One of the happiest days of my life was when Rocky and I walked the sky trail to Belle Island in Richmond, VA.
10. I love Bear Grylls. I could adopt him.
11. Bonus. I really wish the Anchoress hadn't moved her blog to First Things.

1. I pass this on to everyone who's in my links list.

Why Jesus did not establish a female priesthood...

Have you ever noticed that women preachers never talk about humility, service or obedience? They are however, very big on feelings, power, expressing themselves, rights, and "dignity".

An Episcopalian (Church of Anything Goes) priestess has publicly claimed that God rejoices in abortion.

Somewhere in a fetid corner of hell, Queens Jezebel and Athaliah are nodding in recognition of a sister in spirit.

It's a strange feeling when a piece of your childhood dies

Fr. Aragorn

Father Aragorn, our old parochial vicar will be saying a Solemn High Mass at Our Lady of Hope
in Potomac Falls, Virginia on July 1 at 7PM. I'm temted to go but the last time I visited OLoH I was not comfortable--- the church is gorgeous, the priest is very good but the people are coldfish, rich Northern Virginians with all that entails and I'm not sure I want to put up with that again. Potomac Falls is one of those stuffy, artificial places that I loathe. No history, no real center, just a bunch of mini mansions squating on the manicured hills.

On the other hand, it would be lovely to be at a Solemn High Mass and Fr. Aragorn's Latin is exquisite.

St. Vincent DePaul, Baltimore

Rocky and I spent a day in Baltimore and visited St. Leo's in Little Italy and thanks to the kind church housekeeper we took a quick tour of St. Vincent DePaul. St. Vincent is the oldest continuously used parish in the Baltimore diocese.

It is surrounded by hard core beggars, but don't let that frighten you. Nobody bothered us and two of them politely told us to go to the side door to gain entrance. They did not ask us for money. The church is beautiful. It's Federal style, all white wash, marble and light coming in from delicately colored stained glass. They are the only church in the diocese that has a 12:15 AM Mass. Boy would I have loved that back when I was single. My date and I could've gone out, had dinner, done our hour of fasting and still made Mass and slept in the next day.

Father's Day

Father's Day is always bittersweet for me. I think of my own dad and I miss him. I think of Rocky never getting a hug from a grimy little boy of his own and I feel terrible for that. But then, I think of God, our Father and I think of all His son's, our priests. On this day and every day in this Year of Priests, thank your Father.

Fr. Cutie

Fr. Cutie "married" his girlfriend this week. The celebrant was a judge.

Clever. Wickedly clever.

The fact that it was a judge officiating and that no attempt to pretend that the marriage is sacramental will come in handy later if he changes his mind. As I said before, I wouldn't want to be in Mrs. Cutie's shoes.

Run like hell....

....If your pastor stands up in the pulpit and says "We need a new Pentecost."
or "Vatican II unleashed a new Pentecost for the Church".

If Wanda Sue, the daughter of the church secretary suddenly appears in a leotard and begins leaping and twirling up the the center aisle. If it's a flesh colored leotard, run screaming.

If your pastor refuses to speak about abortion because he doesn't want to offend the openly and loudly pro abortion but quite wealthy parishioner who is paying for the church's new roof.

If the deacon stands up and does a Jay Leno imitation instead of giving a homily.

If your priest tells you in Confession that IVF is okay.

If you go to a parishioner party and see your pastor sitting in a hot tub with a woman-- oh hell, if you go to a church function and see Father sitting in a hot tub, period. And doesn't matter if he's wearing rash guards or Speedos.

If a lady in a polyester pantsuit-- the Mother Superior of an order than used to exist in your parish and who is visiting her old stomping grounds--- gives the homily.

If a priest tells you not to kneel at Mass-- ever.

Strange days in Boston

It looks like the Boston archdiocese is going to be involved in the abortion business. http://votingcatholicin2008.blogspot.com/

This must be a kick in the gut to every man and woman who's ever prayed in front a Boston area abortion clinic and to everyone who works in a crisis pregnanc cener. They must feel so betrayed.

I am reminded of Our Lady's words in Akita:

"The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against other bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres (other priests). Churches and altars will be sacked. The Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord."
"The demon will be especially implacable against the souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them."

i found this disturbing

....If a man really thought that marriage meant half a dozen children or more, if he really thought that his wife wouldn't be able to work because she was pregnant every two years. If he really thought marriage meant supporting a dozen kids then maybe celibacy wouldn't seem so bad.


I read this on the Standing on My Head blog (don't think I'm going back either) and although I'm not entirely sure of why it did so, it really disturbed me. American Catholics from the Baby Boomers onward have been having sex with the mindlessness of animals but seem terrified of actually having a baby, the whole point of mating in the first place.

It seems so strange. Now granted, with my fertility issues I'm probably not the one to comment on this since I've not been able to carry a pregnancy past two months. Rocky doesn't need to "worry" about having a dozen kids out of me but when we married we did so assuming that kids would come along because that's the deal with with marriage.

Oh, and just becuase you have a bunch of kids doesn't mean that a woman can't work outside the home. My great grandmother had twelve and she was picking cotton in the South Carolina sun, cooking on a wood stove, raising chickens, goats, pigs, keeping a cow and sewing quilts for tourists in her spare time-- a hell of a tougher job than sitting in a nice air conditioned office all day.

What's up with that?

Why do so many Catholics go on and on about Francis Shaefer? He was some kind of Protestant.

Why is Cardinal Law safe in Rome instead facing his former flock in Boston?

Why do Catholics love Flannery O'Conner so much? Her stuff gave me nightmares as a kid.

Why do so many people who clearly don't love the Faith get themselves ordained or professed as nuns?

What is about working for one's parish that seems to turn so many middle aged women into power tripping hapries?

more important than Tiller

Pray the rosary. I have a feeling that things are going to get very greasy in the next few months. Pro-lifers may be harrassed and insulted but babies are going to die.

Pass me not, Oh Gentle Savior

Fr. Cutie

I once saw Fr. Cutie in person. It was after the Papal Mass in DC. Rocky and I were still in the stadium and walked right past him. I think he was doing a commentary on the Mass for a Spanish language channel. He is a good looking man---- movie star pretty and has JFKesquse charisma. His followers (that's a problem right there-- a priest shouldn't have followers) were mostly women, since it's chicks who babble on about love and marriage. Guys don't.
Surely someone in the diocese should've had enough sense to see that a mess could happen. If he had time to carry on a dalliance then he obviously had no oversight and had too much unaccounted for time surrounded by dreamy women with heaving bosoms and slobbery emotions.

Anyway, he and his woman have abandoned the Church for Episcopalianism, a religion that was started becuase Henry VIII was a heartless swine and Anne Boleyn was an ambitious woman. I wouldn't want to be the future Mrs. Cutie. There's a mark on her back. Every woman who's every looked too long at Fr. Cutie before thinks that she has a shot at him now. All is fair in love and war and sisterhood is crap, especially when a man is on the line. Afterall, if he could not be faithful to his vows to God and the Church why should anyone expect him to be faithful to one woman?

It's all too bad and too sad.

Christopher West

I read that Christohper West has suggested that married couples bless their genitals before doing the deed. Some fans of his on other blogs defended this and said they do just that. I began snickering then outright laughing because the genital blessing ritual reminded me of the this adults only, NSFW scene from of the most oddly revolting and stupid movies ever made by a great director, Eyes Wide Shut.

why do catholics so often bayonet their own troops?

Dawn Eden echoed this question which was originally posed by Mark Shea. My first impulse when I read it was to ask, "What do you mean our troops?" If a professional Catholic who presumes to speak for the Church spouts garbage, blasphemy, or acts a fool in public what's so bad about calling him or her on it?

Ascension Sunday

The Ascension Chapel at Our Lady of Walsingham. My all tme favorie Ascension imge.

Mass was beautiful. The feast of St. Rita was earlier this week so the church was filled with red roses for St. Rita and pink and white roses for Mary. A joyful and glowing Fr. Gollum preached a remarkable homily. I wish I'd been taking notes because this was worth keeping and savoring.

After Mass a nice old couple renewed their wedding vows. They'd been married for 40 years.

After they were done I went to work. The crown of carnations on our Mary statue was crooked and that bugged me all during Mass so as soon as I could I straightened it. Fr. Theoden saw me and smiled sympathetically. 'Oh look, he must have thought, 'There's Dymphna being OCD again.'
Rocky, later pointed out to me that he'd watched my crown straightening attempt with nervousness. "You could've fallen. You barely reach Mary's head."

He's right, of course. The statue was too tall for me and I had to do a certain amount of climbing and stretching but I can't stand half assedness. I had to straighten out that crown.

My thorn crowned Captain

Woe, to me if I should prove to be a half hearted soldier in the service of my thorn crowned captain. ----St Fidelis.

Please pray for a poor messed up kid

Tony, (that's not his name) is 17. He was born out of wedlock. Instead of putting him up for adoption his mother decided to keep him and like a great many single mom's in this country, she did a lousy job. He's depressed, bi-polar and isn't good about taking his medicine. He doesn't like school and has managed to skip most of this year. Soon he'll be 18 with little chance of passing the GED test, no chance of going to college or to trade school and the world is not going to baby him like his mom did. He'll be legally a man with nothing going for him. I have no idea what's going to become of this poor kid.

Does the pro-life movement need a reboot?

Before anyone gets mad let me tell a little story.

Once upon a time when America was a very different place a black girl got tired of having to sit in the back of the bus and got tired of having to give her seat in the back to any white person who wanted it. One day she refused to give up her seat and was arrested. I am not talking about Rosa Parks. This young woman who took her stand before Rosa is largely unknown today because the civil rights movement leaders looked into her background and saw that she had a child out of wedlock and was pregnant again. She had guts but her home life was a mess and she wouldn't look good on TV and interviews were out of the question. A few months later Rosa Parks, a quiet, dignified and yes, articulate married woman decided to refuse to put up with the unjust bus situation. Rosa was an excellent spokesman for the movement. Middle class America saw her on TV wearing her Sunday hat and gloves and many felt shame. For the first time ordinary Americans began saying that hey, making black people move around on the bus at the whim of any white person was cruel and unAmerican.

Frederick Douglas was a cultured, elegant man who spoke better English than most of his listeners. Jackie Robinson's courageous and calm manner did more to desegregate this country than anybody else before MLK. Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige were both great baseball players but neither one would've been able to handle the abuse Jackie had to put up with. Gibson's mental problems would've made him crumble and Paige's temper would've made him beat somebody senseless.

I think that maybe the leaders of the pro-life movement need to think about presentation. First, everyone who speaks for the movement, every figure head must have a personal life that is above reproach. I mean your taxes must be paid, your teenagers must be well behaved in public and in private. You'd better not be having an affair or have been divorced and remarried and even the most rigourous investigator should'nt be able to find out anything bad about you that can be exploited. You also have to be able to speak well. If you can not present the pro-life case in an articulate fashion please don't get in front of a camera.

A Soldier's Prayer...for all those who will not be slient

My shoulders ache beneath my pack
(Lie easier, Cross, upon His back).

I march with feet that burn and smart
(Tread, Holy Feet, upon my heart)

Men shout at me who may not speak
(They scourged Thy back and smote Thy cheek)

I may not lift a hand to clear
My eyes of salty drops that sear.
(Then shall my fickle soul forget
Thy agony of Bloody Sweat?)

My rifle hand is stiff and numb
(From Thy pierced palm red rivers come).

Lord, Thou didst suffer more for me
Than all the hosts of land and sea.

So let me render back again
This millionth of Thy gift.
Amen.

Joyce Kilmer

Fr. Weslin

HT to Curt Jester

Pray for us, Oh Sorrowful Mother.

Star Trek

Go. See. It.



My only quibble was that the girl who played Uhura was not up to the job. Oh and whatever you do, don't make the Vulcan mad.

Thank God that's over

The Pope is back from his trip to the Holy Land. It was a grueling schedule for an 82 year man. I found it very distasteful how everyone seemed to want to use the Holy Father's presence to advance their own religious and political quarrels.

I hope he takes a long break after this.

The sex sermonist and poor old Brother Ray

Christopher West reminds me of Brother Ray, an old teacher of mine from high school. Brother Ray meant well. He was earnest, he tried to relate to us kids and he tried to be hip. I thought him to be ridiculous. Every time he tried to "rap" with us, I think, "Oh man, Brother Ray's talkin' about sex again. Gag me with a spoon why don'tcha?"

Poor Christopher West says that the editors of Nightline used dicey editing to make him look bad with his Hugh Hefner and JPII as his muses quote. But West bungled into it by bringing Hefner up in the first place. Every time Christians try to look sophisticated and clever and make friends with the world they make themsleves look stupid. It's like Christian pop music. It's dumb, second rate and embarrassing at best.

Hugh Hefner is no liberator who went wrong. He didn't want to save Americans from prudery, the dude wanted and still wants to degrade women. Period. And that's what he's done.

Prudence has been given a bad name. It was a societal protection for the young. Once upon a time in the prudish past if a man looked too long at a 15 year old girl his decent friends would reprove him. Others, not his friends would just think that boy aint right. I better not hang with him or he'll get me into a mess of trouble. Now everybody laughs and a few may remind him jokingly that 15 will get ya 20, but most just laugh. They'd kill him if he were to mess with their 15 year old but otherwise it's okay. Is that an improvement?

Once a young man knew that he had to treat the girl next door with respect or society would make him pay for it. Hugh Hefner has successfully taught that the girl next door is a just whore at heart-- no different that the creatures walking the street in the red light district and that she really wants to be used and discarded. When Jay-Z sang about not trusting or needing women for anything more than sex he was reflecting the zeitgeist that Hefner wrought.

And folks we are not bound to study TOB anymore than we're bound to study the rythm of our fertility stages. It's not a sacrament. It's not a law of the Church. It was a hobby of JPII. When the pope is talking about the deposit of the Faith I'm there. But when he's talking about cooking, fishing or sacred sex I can go work on my stamp collection with a clear concience. As much as I love John Paul II, if you ask me if I know what he really said about sex I will cheerfully respond, (depending on how old you are or what your state in life is) that yes, I do but I really don't give a rat's ass.

In your charity, please pray for Fr. Cutie, he got lost somewhere

You must never forget that priests are, and that they remain, men.
God does not perform a miracle to wrest them from the human state.
The priesthood does not of itself give a person the power to do everything or to excel in everything. It is important to remember this lest you fall into a very old error . . . that of dehumanizing the priesthood and consequently of setting the priest outside of ordinary life.
That does great harm for by thus isolating him, as unbelievers do, to the exclusive realm of ceremonies . . . he is deprived in good part of his reason for being. If men refuse to pass through him, he no longer can be, at least fully, their mediator. Cardinal Suhard --> -->

gay marriage, welcome to the vomitorium

At first glance the whole subject seems too ridiculous to entertain. I don't think any of the gay men I know really want to be married. They want a gaudy spectacle of a wedding. They want attention but I doubt that they have any concept of what marriage is supposed to be. I say supposed to be because normal people have damaged the institution of marriage and damaged it severely. It's like taking a piece of fine linen and tearing it to shreds and then objecting when your kid puts his dirty hands on it.

Marriage was mocked and shredded long ago. And you know who did it? Your parents and their parents. When Elizabeth Taylor was going from man to man people still flocked to her movies. When Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner humiliated his wife in public, people idolized Frank and couldn't get enough of Ava. And don't forget your part: you love reading People and US magazine to see what Brad and Angie are up to, don't you?

We will never know for sure if Cardinal Cushing knew the extent of JFKs adultery but we do know years later when Jackie was about to marry the divorced Aristotle Onassis when people asked Cushing what he thought he stated that people should practice charity and leave Jackie alone. Later when Jackie died she was given a Catholic funeral, anyone who mentioned that at the time of her death she had been living with a married man was branded a gauche hater.
Decades earlier, Archbishop Sheen told Joe DiMaggio to his face that his "marriage" to Marilyn Monroe was wrong, but he was only the only churchman who did. It may not seem like much now but millions of Catholics and non Catholics were watching and listening and making conclusions.

Once, a divorce or open adultery was the end of a Protestant minister's career. No more. In the 1950s, the Reverend Adam Clayton Powell dumped his wife to marry his lover. Most people in the church were shocked but didn't stop attending Abyssinian Baptist Church. Joel Osteen's father was a divorced man but that didn't faze his congregants. He married again and built up a powerful ministry that spawned the career of Joel. Richard Roberts, son of Oral, divorced his wife and most people in the church didn't even flinch, at least not in public where it counted. Some people excuse the ministers by saying that it's hard being a preacher's wife (it is) or that the wife wasn't fit to be a preacher's wife and that the divorce was her fault. Other's use the King David excuse.

In the American Catholic church annulments are handed out like cookies at a girl scout meeting. People who've been married for decades with teen aged or adult children have gotten annulments. Are you telling me that ALL of these annulled marriages REALLY were invalid? Now, yes, of course, there are pitiful cases where an annulment is the only right thing to do : A woman who finds that she's married to a secretly gay man was lied to from the beginning. Her marriage was not valid. She did not have all the facts before the wedding. A man who finds that his wife has no intention of having children and didn't tell him was duped into a false marriage. I know of one woman who married a man who suffered from severe depression. His family was relieved when he married. Did anyone tell the wife about his condition? I don't know but if no-one did she has a right to an annulment one day. Those are sad cases but they aren't common. They aren't enough to fuel the annulment machine we seem to have today. And let's not forget the divorced and remarried Catholics who haven't gone the annulment route have been known to present themselves for Communion.

To a gay man, who is the victim of parents who probably didn't have the marriage they should've had or who fell prey to a horrible situation early in his development it must seem like rank hypocrisy that we who have played marriage so fast and loose should turn our noses up at him for trying to play house. I could argue with him pointing out that he's not right in the head (and he is not) but he could argue back that the society that produced him is sicker. I expect gay marriage to be the law of the land within five years. Of course, if it's true that as some economists are predicting, that the entire US economy is going to collapse, gay marriage will collapse with it. A rich fat man can afford to be decadent. He can afford to ignore gay marriage.As long as his wife's gay friends don't insinuate themselves into his children's lives, he'll shrug his shoulders about the whole thing. A man who's rioting in the streets for food or who hasn't worked in over a year will not look kindly on the frivolous or the ridiculous. After the binge comes the hangover. After the bacchanal somebody is left cleaning up the vomitorium.

2009 Cannonball Award Nominee.........

Psst. Y'know this Swine Flu "pandemic" is just the media being a bunch of crazy Joe Bidens, right?

Don't fear the piggy wiggy.

On a more serious note, thousands of Americans die of the regular, non hyped flu every year. That's why your grandma really ought to get her flu shot and why you need to see a doctor if it goes on for more than five days. I think the media is just trying to distract us from what's really going on. Statistically speaking swine flu has killed a handful of people. A tragedy for their families of course, but hardly a cause for widespread panic. Folks, when Mr. Pestilence gets on his horse to ride, he doesn't send a press release. People just start dying en masse.

who was that veiled woman?

A Catholic woman at work was mocking women who wear veils at Mass. I just changed the subject. Bless her heart, if she ever runs into me at Mass the shock might be too much. Hopefully I'll be wearing one with sequins or the hot pink one and she'll be so horrified that she'll look away and never recognize me.

I confess

• Although I liked Fr. Neuhaus, First Things bored me and still does.
  
  
• I feel like I ought to like the What's Wrong With the World blog but it just reminds me too much of the cool kids in high school.
  
  
• I think Kathy Shaidle's quip about Rod Dreher is one of the funniest things I've ever read.
  
  
• I like Fr. Z of the WDTPRS blog but his commenters are so precious that they annoy me. On the WDTPRS blog a reader wrote in to complain that he/she went to a church that switched the Tridentine Mass with the Divine Mercy Mass. When TLM attendees showed up and found that their Mass was not going to happen they left. The reader was shocked. I feel some sympathy for these folks. They probably traveled some distance to get to a Mass that had been for all practical purposes canceled, and you know what? Not every Catholic is into the Divine Mercy devotion (I am) and as long as they kept their Sunday obligation they had a right to leave. For all this reader knows they could've caught a later Mass somewhere else. I've done that on occasion. Upon realizing that I didn't want to sit through the charismatic Mass or the Spanish Mass I've picked myself up and gone to another parish. On Sunday in my diocese if you are willing to drive you can go to Mass at six in the morning or 7 at night. I've even heard rumours about a wonky 10 PM Mass at Georgtown. Out of all the people who left one guy said he wouldn't be going to Mass at all since he'd missed his regular one. Why judge everybody by the actions of one man?
• The Catholic distributists are nice folks but dull, dull, dull.
  
  
• The Catholic let's-hide-from-the-world-and-raise-chickens crowd make me laugh---not with them but at them.

Sorry.

Today we visited St. Ignatius in Chapel Point Maryland. It is the oldest continously Jesuit run parish in the United States. We prayed in the beautiful little church, walked in the cemetary and the pries't cemetary and then looked at the litte house that was once a stop on the underground railroad. It was founded in 1641, by Fr. Andrew White who must've been an amazingly brave man. We then stopped by St. Thomas Manor and the shrine to Our Lady, the Stations of the Cross walk and the St. Kateri statue.

Next we went to Chapel Point park and headed down the road to Our Lady of the Wayside Church in Chaptico for Vigil Mass. The pastor, Fr. Baer is an energetic young man who gave a fine homily and was a good confessor. The parishioners were friendly. Mass was glorious. After that we had a terrific meal in Mechanicsville.

what not to say to an infertile woman

Whenever someone says to me,"You're so lucky you dont'/can't have children.They are so expensive/tiring/demanding....etc," I give them a Stepford wife vauge smile and change the subject. Usually I fantasize about saying, "Hey just 'cause you're a lousy parent and you're kids are brats, don't assume I'd be just as bad."............. and then sometimes I think about spitting.

i'm so excited

I've been nominated for Best Batshit Crazy Catholic blog. Check out the story on the fabulous Crescant blog. Wheeeee!

one of the saddest stories i've ever read

I read a news story about the footprints left in floor a wooden floor by a Buddhist monk. He's been praying in that same spot for decades. How heartbreaking! This man's whole life has been dedicated to nothing.

oh for pete's sake, bring on the schism

That was my reaction after reading this post on the truly awesome Lair of the Catholic Cavemen blog. I was born after Vatican II so I'm pretty tired of hearing about it. Please don't tell me how great VatII was, vocations are down, Catholics now act just like pagans and a lot of our nuns look like... well, I won't get into that.

Quit telling me that this is the new springtime, that's like urinating on my daffodils and insisting that it's really rain. It's clear that a significant portion of Catholics are stuck in the 1970s and they won't give it up. Instead of making us all suffer along with their antics I say bring on the open schism and leave the rest of us in peace. Mentally, they've already schismed. They're already Roman Protestants at heart. Why not just be honest about it?

Nasty little people

A number of Catholic bloggers, including one who really shocks me, seem to be almost orgasmicly smug over Mel Gibson's impending divorce. It was kind of like a Twilight Zone episode where kindly old Mr. Jones turns out to be a really nasty little person.

St. Francis Xavier & St. Ignatius

We went to the vigil Mass at St. Francis last night. The church is the oldest in the original 13 colonies. It felt wonderful to worship in such an old place, where the Faith began in America. The Pastor, Fr. Mattingly, is a delightful man and so was the kindly deacon. I haven't felt that welcomed in a church in my own diocese. It makes me ponder, once again, what the heck is wrong with Northern Virginia Catholics.

We also visited St. Ignatius, the second Catholic church in the colonies.

i watched Archbishop Dolan's installation

It was disappointing.

Eternal Rest......

Carrie Tomko, of the Still Running Off at the Keyboard blog died. May she find peace.

St. Mary's Maryland.

To celebrate Easter Rocky and I went to several St. Mary's County shrines and churches. We started with the Mother of Light shrine in Clements, and visited the St. Clement's Island museum. Next we went to St. Joseph in Morganza. It's such a beautiful church I was amazed. We saw St. Cecilia's, Holy Angels, St. Mary's and the St. Mary Youth Shrine. Glorious. And at the end of the day we stopped by St. Francis Xavier, the oldest parish in the 13 original colonies. It sits on a spit of land jutting out into the water. An osprey soared low overhead. We saw turkey vultures on the ground and red wing blackbirds, a great egret and some kind of Thrush. If you're ever in Southern Maryland you have to take the Catholic road trip. The history of our faith in America begins right there.

i am astounded

God died for me. Purity came down from heaven. He saw the filth of my soul and wiped me clean with His own blood. In the garden of Gethsemane He suffered hematidrosis, He allowed the temple gaurds and the servants of the high priest to beat Him--- men dedicated to protecting the temple not realizing that the One who was greater than the temple was right there before them. He shed more blood when the Roman soldiers scourged Him. There are over 100 scourge marks shown on the Shroud of Turin. His head was crowned with a cap woven from thorns that led to horrifying neuraglia. His hair and bruised and swollen face must have been covered with blood. He bled in the streets of Jerusalem and finally on the cross. All this to save me.

Think of of it. God came down from heaven to suffer and die. And how do I return this wonderous sacrifice, this tremendous love? With laziness, with cowardice, with indifference. Pardon me Lord.

My Jesus, my Lord, my King. I trust in You this Spy Wenesday night and always.

Oh Mary, my Lady, my queen, let me stay with you at the foot of the cross.

i need a nap.........

The good news is Rocky is doing great. He'll start physical therapy and should be back at work in a week. Thank you to everyone who prayed for him.
I'm tired. Things at work have been miserable. I feel as flat as a badly cooked pancake or like the moon wishing for an eclipse so she can have a break. I really wish I could just stay home with Rocky this week.

Easter's coming. Get your butt to confession

Fr. Vic wants you, especially if you live in Brooklyn, Queens or Long Island.

Queen Athalaiah lives on

Queen Athalaiah was the daughter of Jezebel and like her infamous mother, she worshiped Baal. She is remembered in the bible as the queen who ruled Judea alone and who had her grandsons killed. In the name of power for herself she killed her male infant relatives. Interesting.

Anyone who tells you that the world would be a pink and candy coated place if only women ran things is either mentally dull or a feminist. Actually women are just as vicious, and can be crueler than the average guy could ever dram of being.

Women are capable of violence, and some of us, like Reverend Katherine Hancock Ragsdale are evil bitches who will encourage others to condone or commit murder.

The Sisterhood has it's rules. First, separate the woman from the man. Then get the woman to hate her children. Teach her whine and rail against the day to day grind of taking care of a house and kids. Encourage her to see them and the Man as burdens holding her back. Get her to contracept and even kill.... The spirit of Athalaiah lives on. Instead of a crown her "daughters" wear a nice suit and a pleasant smile. Sometimes they wear judges robes, and in the case of the Rev., sometimes they dress up in vestments.

This is what you voted for.

The President of the United States curtseys/bows before the King of Saudi Arabia. "What is thy bidding, my master?"

Yo Tony Blair! Shut yer trap

and tell your wife to shut up and sit down too.

Rocky and his knee

The surgery went perfectly. Fairfax Hospital's ambulatory surgery department is top notch. Everyone was so lovely to us. Rocky is a very active man and the forced inactivity in making him a little restless. Hopefully the recovery of his poor knee will go smooth and easy as chocolate pie.

Newt!

Newt Gingrinch converted and I've noticed a lot of Catholic bloggers are being very pissy about it, even bratty little Rod Dreher, who loudly left the Church a few years ago and who really ought to mind his own business has commented. I wish I could ask these people who the hell they think they are. Jesus came to call sinners. He did not found a country club for nice people.

Mary of Magdala was once, according to Catholic Traditon the biggest tramp in Palestine. Jesus spoke to her and she became a saint. Saul of Taursus had Christians killed. Pelagia of Antioch was an actress who sold herself to rich men as a concubine and was known for her lewd stage performances. She heard a bishop preach and completely changed her life. The former scarlet woman retired to the desert and became a hermit. Bartolo Longo was a Satanic priest before he was converted. St. Thomas Becket was living a rich young man at Court's life before he became a saint. Matt Talbot was a falling down, nasty drunk, St. Augustine took at mistress at 17(!), Margaret of Cortona lived openly in sin with a man for years.

I don't like Newt, but unless he messes up and starts acting like, oh say the "devout" Kennedys all I have to give him a chance.