This is beautiful

A novice takes the veil.   May God bless this young lady.

Don’t believe the stereotype.

Ever notice how we are constantly being told that Latinos are the future of the Church because American Catholics are lazy lumps of lukewarm offal? Well, I’ve always thought that patter was so much horse manure. 

According to this article very few young Latino men in the States are going to the seminary. I’m not surprised. Protestantism and secularism have made huge gains in Latin America and the Mexican Church in particular is facing some serious problems. Despite what Fr. Skippy says, not all Latinos are devout Catholics.

Another example of Catholic stereotyping is the Malta fantasy. We’re told that Malta is a Catholic Shangri-La. Well a majority of the populace just voted for legalized divorce.  All the examples the professional Catholics use to shame us boring pewsitters fall apart upon even casual inspection.

Beautiful Maria of Regensburg

This unsual and precious painting is in the Collegiate Church of St. John in Regensburg, Germany. The Holy Father was a professor in Regensburg and probably saw this painting of Our Lord and Our Lady everytime he went to Mass.

Oh good grief

I saw this on Fr. Z’s blog. For pity’s sake folks. If a woman wants to veil at Mass (I do for the Novus Ordo and the TLM) and/or adoration that’s her business. Mind yours.  She is not necessarily being holier than thou. Some of us do it as a penance and if she is showing off the Lord will deal with her later.

Jack Kevorkian died

How odd that a man who so enjoyed killing the pysically and mentally ill decided to die in his hospital bed of natural sickness. It's rather like the environmentalists who fly their jets all over the world and live in huge mansions yet begrudge the rest of us a car and home bigger than a hut. In the end he was a hypocrite as well as a creep.

Ascension at St. Rita's

Ascension Thurdsay at St. Rita's was beautiful. We had a sung Tridentine. Fr. Eagle had four altar boys and a very, very good schola. I'm always so excited when we go to the TLM. It's just plain amazing seeing little kids so quiet and attentive. And the people at the Mass are fascinating, college kids, young couples, young professionals and  people from around the world were there last night. Two old men sat in front of me. One had a shiny new missal and his friend had a missal so old and worn it was just barely held together by the sewn binding.
One thing about the high sung TLM, is that you can't let your mind wander. The priest  is constantly in motion and he's continuing his prayers to God on our behalf while the the choir is singing. I've been experimenting with differnet strategies for keeping up with Fr. Eagle and last night I followed the missal until  the Sanctus and after that I concentrated totally on the altar. It seemed to work.

Ken Jan Woo

Ken Jan Woo, is a highly talented Chinese born artist who created the magnificent icons at the Our Savior's Church  in New York City. His icon of St. John is one of the best I've ever seen. Too many artists make St. John look like a little girl. Woo's St. John is a young man. I also love his St. Joan of Arc , his St. Augustine of China and his Blessed Mother Teresa.  The next time I'm in New York I will definitely take a cab to see the church and  to look at the icons of Our Lord and the painting of Our Lady. There is so much lousy religious art on the market and in our churches that we really need to support beauty and talent when we find it.

Hail Mary

AVE MARIA, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

Random thoughts

*It's a heat advisory day today so I'm staying inside and enjoying the comforts of modern life. When Rocky comes home from work we may head to the Potomac river. In the meantime, thank you Mr. Carrier, Mr. Crapper, Mr. Farnsworth and good ole Mr. Edison, may you all rest in peace.


*After reading about St. Philip Neri I'm curious. How does an oratory work? Is it treated  like a parish or a monastery?

* If you've ever read the Pieta prayer book you've probably seen  excerpts from Mutter Vogel's Worldwide Love. Mother Vogel was a German woman who had many visits from Our Lord and Our Lady. Our Lord supposedly told her many things but the oft quoted words in the Pieta prayer book concerned criticism of priests. A number of people on various blogs have claimed that there's no evidence that Mutter Vogel existed.

I'm a librarian. Looking for stuff is my business so I went searching for Mother Vogel's book for myself. Google is great and I love it but it's not the end of online research by a long shot. After checking WorldCat, the Library of Congress, German Amazon, German books on mystics and a few German blogs I discovered that the Pieta editors spelled Mutter Vogel's name wrong. It's actually Vogl and the book doesn't seem to have been published in English. I then looked for Mutter Vogls weltweite Liebe  and learned that her name was Katharina and she was a Franciscan Third Order member. She did not publish the book herself but seems to have reported the details of her visions only to her superior(s). Someone named A. M. Weigl wrote the book so anyone searching for Vogel as the author wouldn't have found a thing. Katharina Vogl  died in 1956, and her cause for beatification has been opened.

Memorial Day

Do you think that any of the Catholics who publicly wailed for Osama binLadin, (a man who would've cheerfully slit their throats)  will remember that Memorial Day has nothing to do with barbeque or linen sales?

When monks go bad

Thank you, thank you Holy Father for supressing the abbey of Santa Croce. Without discipline things fall apart.

Pray for Joplin, Missouri

So far 118 people are dead. Sudden, unprepared death is a terrible thing. People go on and on about man made global warming but when tornado season hits we are all reminded that mankind is puny before the full force of nature. 

St. Mary's Church, Joplin MO


Eternal rest grant unto all those lost, Oh Lord. May perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.

My Jesus, mercy!

Oh Mary, Comforter of the Afflicted pray for them.

Mass was horrible today.

How bad was it? Well, Rocky got food poisoining at a pot luck at work and there was no way we could make it to St. Rita's on time so we went to Queen of Apostles. We ended up sitting behind two little girls who were so far out of control that I found myself wondering if they were being raised by dingoes.

I don't feel like laughing

A lot of people are mocking the poor souls who believe that the rapture of the just is going to take place today. I can't. Yeah, these people are ridiculous at first glance and yes, even though they are just a small Protestant sect they reflect badly on Christians in general but I'll bet  many of them are kind, decent sorts. They are going to be heartbroken and humiliated before their children and neighbors come Sunday. I'm sure that many, the kids in particular  will lose their faith in God. That's a tragedy because I haven't seen too many efforts by Catholics to reach the people trapped in charismatic and evanelical sects.
May God send a  a brave missonary to California  to lead them to the barque of Peter.

Random thoughts after the migraine has faded

 Yesterday my head hurt so long and so bad that I was wishing that I could throw up because I usually feel better afterwards. I love Spring but it triggers horrid headaches.

• My mother was a housekeeping supervisor in a big DC hotel for 30 years. She could tell you some shocking stories about how rich and not so rich people behave when they are away from home and have someone else to clean up for them. Once when she was in her 20s she went to a guest's room who had called for  turndown service. When she got there he made an obscene suggestion and she angrily left. The man was told to leave the hotel and did.
  
  It makes me so angry when I read on other blogs comments like "Why would a rich man like that bother with a lowly maid?" and "She set him up for money, "Why is a man of his breeding being held in Riker's Island?"  A maid is not a slave or something so beneath a guest that she's not even worth the notice one would take of an animal that happened by.  Apparently in France people are aghast that Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund was arrested on the word of a mere maid. Well, as President Sarkozy pointed out in America we do take rape accusations seriously.
  
  A lot of bloggers (Catholics and others) bitch and moan about America and seem to wish we were more like Europe but I thank God that we are not.

• I wonder why anyone gives a flying hoot  what Stephen Hawking says? The poor man hasn't had an idea since the 80s, 70s!

• The people pursuing the Arnold Schwarzenegger adultery story are simply evil. They are ruining an innocent child's life. They've printed the name of the child's mother. They've posted photos of her and  slightly blurry photos of the boy on the Internet. They've said what town he lives in and posted a photo of his house. I expect they'll do more. All for the love  of gossip, which is a sin. The poor boy is a private citizen and should not be exposed to ridicule because of the sins of his parents.
  
• I pray that Hilary White's cancer treatment goes well. I wish she had  mother or a sturdy old aunt to look after her.

St. Mary's and St. Michael's

Rocky took the weekend off and we day tripped both days. On Saturday we went to Richmond and after the touring and shopping we attended the vigil Mass at St. Mary's. It was very strange. There is no sign out front and nothing to indicate that you've walked up to a Catholic church. It looks like a  cross between the Mormon visitor center in Maryland and St. Bede's in Williamsburg with a large lobby. The decor is a an unsusual but striking fantasy blend of Celtic and art deco.

On one side of the building is a beautiful light filled chapel and on the other is a small adoration chapel. They have a lovely statue of Mary but it's hidden away near the restrooms and there is no image of her in the santuary area. The main church has stadium seating and no kneelers. We couldn't find the Blessed Sacrament and eventually we guessed that Our Lord remains in the chapel.The homily was very good but the whole experience felt like a trip to an Episcopalian church instead of a Catholic one.

On Sunday we went to Southern Maryland. We drove to Point Lookout and enjoyed the water and birds, including two bald eagle sightings. We visited St. Michael's church in Ridge, MD. It's a doll house sized  little church with one of the most moving adoration chapel's I've ever seen.  After the disappointing St. Mary's, St. Michael's was a palate cleanser.

Random thoughts now that Blogger is back

*Yesterday I came across two  delightful blogs, Widow's Weeds.  and New Catacombs that I will definitely visit again.

*Last night Fr. Bear said the TLM. He has such a pleasant, calm voice and he's so easy to follow in the missal. St. Rita's has the TLM every Thursday at 7:30.

*Remember all the idiots who cheered the so-called Arab Spring? Patriarch Gregorios III would like to have a word with them. And Bishop Antonios isn't too thrilled either.

*John Zmirak seems to have kicked the hornet's nest. The response he gets should be interesting.

*The Great Santini is on HBO tonight. I can't watch it without getting sad. My Father-in-law is Bull Meecham without the charm.

Did Archbishop Marini lie?

Former Papal MC, Archbishop Piero Marini has written a book, Io sono un Papa amabile. Giovanni Paolo II, in which he states that Blessed John Paul fully approved of the offbeat liturgies that Marini was in charge of. Father Z. and his most of readers are dismissive.  Is Fr. Z saying in a round about way that an archbishop is lying to sell books? I know many people can't stand Marini but let's get real. Do you really believe that the pope put up with Masses he couldn't stand for two decades? That's absurd.

King of Kings from 1927

The actor playing Our Lord was actually older than the actress playing Mary and it shows  and there are a few other little flaws but overall this was a beautiful movie.

Happy Mother's Day

Mary Virginia Merrick-- one of the greatest women you've never heard of

Mary Virginia Merrick, known as Miss Mary to her many friends wanted to be a nun but after a terrible accident left her in a wheelchair she found another way to serve Jesus. She founded the Christ Child Society and helped untold numbers of poor kids get a meal, a respite from the city, shoes and a safe place to stay. She died in 1955, after years of pain and grace. Her cause for cannonization has recently been opened.

Magadelens and charity girls

This is beautiful. I normally don't read the Abigail's Alcove blog because it's a mommy blog and well, mommy blogs depress me, especially around Mother's Day but  for some reason I looked at it today. I wonder how many of the professed Christian female bloggers who criticized Kate Middleton were once charity girls themselves. For the sake of dinner and a movie and the fleeting feeling that she's one of the cool people,  many a young woman has done as much as a prostitute would for cash. So who's worse?

a thought for today

There was a kindly gentleman who used to chat with me every morning in the line for the bus to the Pentagon. He worked there and  I continued on to the train station. He was a few months away from retirement and was dreaming of going home to Mississippi. After 9/11 I never saw him again.  That dear man from the magnolia state has been on my mind all day.

Is it a sin to ask a few questions about the beatification?

I just read Philip Lawler's essay in Catholic Culture about the John Paul II beatification and a post on Fr. Z's blog, as well as various other blogs that all seem to indicate that if you have any reservations  or questions about the beatification then you are either a foaming-at-the-mouth Rad Traddie or a moonbeam liberal who wants French bread for communion and priestesses. That's too simplistic and it's unfair.  Asking for clarification does not make one a bad Catholic.

Look, I love John Paul II. He was the pope for most of my life and the only one that I remember. I think he was a holy man personally but here's my problem: I was taught, perhaps wrongly that you can look at the whole life of a saint (after conversion in some cases) and imitate what they did and you will get to Heaven. By beatification or canonization, the Church is saying that you can use this person as your model.  Look at their lives and works oh Christian soul and go do thou, likewise.

When looking at the more than two decades of the Holy Father's pontificate it's obvious that he was magnificent in many ways. I read that some cardinal or archbishop in the Curia stated that JPII was being beatified not because of the events of his pontificate but because of his own private holiness. When I first read that I thought, 'Okay', but later I had to ask if that means we are supposed to ignore some of the things that went wrong. I'm talking about the refusal to hear any criticism of Fr. Marciel, for one.

We are all still too close to JPII to objectively look at his life. Many of us are running on emotion and really I do wish the Vatican had waited at least ten years before a beatification.  My father died when I was 13. I love him. I am fiercely protective of his precious memory. He was a great man but I can admit that he made  some mistakes in his life and as a father. Does this mean I'm a bad daughter? No. It just means that I see and understand some things differently that when I was a freshly grieving kid.

Having said all this, I know that I'm not smarter than the pope or the Holy Spirit. I'll say no more about this and just shut up and pray but I do ask that people not be so ready to verbally stone anyone who does raise their hand and admit that they aren't ready to join the bandwagon without having a few things explained to them.

Guys really don't like weddings

Having read the uh..... sour commentary about the royal wedding and this hilarious post  about modern weddings in general I'm reminded once again that guys really don't like fuss and feathers. If you're a bride take heed. Either skip the big wedding or keep it easy to handle. Keep it under budget and don't bother your groom with much more than telling him where to be, what time to be there and what he and his buddies should wear. Don't behave like a spoiled brat and don't flip out when he tells you that neither he nor any heterosexual male gives a flying hoot whether the napkins are pearl pink or sand pink.

For those lost in the tornadoes-- rest in peace

And Death Shall Have No Dominion
And death shall have no dominion.
Dead men naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.
And death shall have no dominion.
Under the windings of the sea
They lying long shall not die windily;
Twisting on racks when sinews give way,
Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;
Faith in their hands shall snap in two,
And the unicorn evils run them through;
Split all ends up they shan’t crack;
And death shall have no dominion.
And death shall have no dominion.
No more may gulls cry at their ears
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;
Though they be mad and dead as nails,
Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;
Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,
And death shall have no dominion.

-Dylan Thomas

Say a prayer for Fr.Thulani Magwaza

This poor man has been named to take over St. Sabina's now that  Fr. Pfegler has been suspended.

In your charity could you please pray for my uncle as well? He is 61 years old and is in the mid stage of dementia.

Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again

Rocky got home from work on Saturdsay at 7PM. After an 11 hour day we just couldn't do the Vigil so we went to St. Rita's 8 AM Mass of the Day. Fr. Eagle was full of entusiasm and gave a spirited homily. After that we went to Indian Head, Maryland and looked at barn swallows and immature eagles flying over the water. Then we stopped by St. Teresa of Avila in DC and chatted with sweet and jolly Monsignor East, the pastor. He gave us a quick tour and a blessing. Then we picked up my mother and headed to Easter dinner with Rocky's parents. A full day but a good one.

Happy Easter

He is risen! He is risen just as He said He would! Alleluia!

Mary after the cross is taken down

Good Friday

Last night Rocky, my mother, and I went to the Franciscan Monastery in DC for the Burial of Christ service.  It's a very special Franciscan custom that is only done at Holy Land shrines and of course the Holy Sepluchre Church. We've been going for about 16 yearss now.  The link at this photography blog describes it and has pictures. 

One odd but funny thing happened. A man who goes to our parish saw us and came over to our pew and spoke. It's the first time he's spoken to us in five years!

We saw a large number of the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin. Except for the Mother Superior all of them were younger than me and they looked so happy. It was good to see them.
After the service many people move forward to kiss the replica of the Stone of Annointing where Our Lord was laid while His precious, battered body was prepared for burial.

Consumatum Est

One of the most remarkable images of the crucifixion I've ever seen. The Lord is seen with the souls of the prophets who spoke of Him.

Communion of the Apostles, Holy Thursday

30 pieces of silver

I thought of this song at Adoration tonight.

My favorite pieta

Everytime I see this painting it stops me and I have to study it. The artist did a stunning job when he painted the look of sorrow and resignation on Mary's face as she finally gets to holds her precious Son.

Behold, the Bridegroom comes

Random thoughts on an insult to Our Lady, the anchoress and some other stuff

*I read on the excellent blog, Les Femmes that the miserable staff of the Oakland Museum of California have put on an exhibit featuring an obscene image our Our Lady. I was disgusted but later I felt comforted. You see, nobody ever bothers to insult the Dalai Llama or crack nasty "jokes" about Buddhism. Mormons are mocked but that might be due to envy (Mormons tend to be upper middle class) and they aren't openly hated the way Catholicism is. Libertines don't rage against the nice but impotent mainline Protestants. They hate us because our Faith is real. They hate Our Lady because their master, the devil does. It's because she is the Woman who crushes the serpent's head. She is the Mother of God. Now, what to do about the museum?  Mary Ann at Les Femmes has some good suggestions. I'll add just two: don't ever go to that museum and if you live in Oakland start talking anout defunding the place.

*I was disappointed in the Anchoress's take on Michael Voris. If my parish priest declines to teach the Faith I refuse to just sit there like a lump of cold oatmeal.

*I wish the US Conference of bishops could be abolished.

*Kat of the Crescat blog has been chosen to be one of the 150 bloggers invited to a meeting at the Vatican. Whoever put this meeting together didn't give people much lead time and some bloggers will need financial help to get there. I hope Kat makes it and I hope she has a blast in Rome.

*Why did the Vatican release a new catechism for World Youth Day? Surely, teens and 20somethings can read one of the many, many catechisms already available? And why didn't someone actually check to see what the thing said before sending it to the press? Why do we still have World Youth Day, anyway?

*Last Thursday Rocky and I went to the 7PM Mass at Blessed Sacrament in Alexandria. It's an ugly church with some of the coldest people I've ever met but they have great priests and the Mass was wonderful. There was no music, no lectors, no cantor, just the people and the priest. It was a completely ecclesiastical karaoke-free zone.

*When Rocky and I were in Norfolk to see the Life of Christ exhibit, we stayed at the Page House Inn. It was wonderful. My mother was a hotel housekeeper and housekeeping supervisor for 30 years and she's taught me what to look for when I travel. I couldn't find a single thing wrong at the Page House.

Before Abraham was, I AM

In memory of my father (1941-1982)

Eternal rest grant unto him oh Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.

Amen

My pink veil

Rocky really likes this one.

Pray for us, Mother Theodore

I love reading Pat McNamara's Catholic history blog. He's such a talented and interesting writer and I learn about people and episodes in Church history that I never knew about before. His piece on Mother Theodore moved me deeply. This woman had to fight so hard for her vocation and she wasoften  treated with open contempt by fellow Catholics. People tend to look back at segregation and say, "Well that's all over. Everything is fine now." They don't know and can't even fathom what it must have been like to have to live every single day facing insults and frequently, physical danger just because you were black.

Mother Theodore was once a member of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the order of nuns who ran my childhood school and became she the co-founder of the Franciscan Handmaids.

The Life of Christ Exhibt at the Chrysler Museum

Rocky and I took a quick trip to Norfolk to see the James Tissot, Life of Christ paintings exhibit. It's incredible and if you're lucky enough to be in the Hampton Roads area before it ends in June, you've got to go.

St. Veronica's veil

Father Costigan has guts

I've read four Harry Potter books and watched two of the movies. It was mostly fun but not great literature or movie making for that matter and I viewed the  Harry Potter wars with bewilderment. I couldn't see what the big fuss was about but a couple of things have happened over the years. First, I've noticed that some vocal Potter fans can get really, really ugly whenever someone criticizes the series.

And then there was the Buford incident. There's a guy at my job, I've nicknamed him Buford-- who admitted that he and his wife refused to let their children read the books. Another co-worker laughed at him and mocked his religion -- Buford is a Protestant-- and was critical of the way Buford is raising his kids.

Buford is one of the finest gentlemen I've ever met. He is devoted to his wife, would take a bullet for all of his children and he never, ever conducts himself in anything but a professional manner at work--- but he won't buy Harry Potter so according to my other co-worker, he must be a boob.  I didn't like it when she made those remarks. I don't like it now.

Many of the critics of the Potter series have damaged their argument by being as shrill as the super fans. These critics often came off sounding silly or just plain tiresome, like poor Michael O'Brien but Father Costigan of the Fathers of Mercy has written a critique that got  my attention. He's not hysterical. He's not anti-literature. He's not a dreary old toothache of a man who just doesn't want to see kids enjoying themselves. He has some good points. That mandrake/baby scene was almost funny when I first read it but it leaves an unpleasant aftertaste now.

Hang tough Father. I have a feeling that you're going to get some nasty responses.

Christ Mocked

The painting is James Tissot's "Christ Mocked". The pharisees had been praying for a messiah all their lives but not only didn't recognize Him but plotted His torture and death. Pilate could've stopped this horror but didn't want to mess up his precious career. How many of us are just the same today?

What a terrific idea

I just read about a devoted and very old priest who spends his days actively evangelizing. He's right about how passive Catholics are. Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses have no problem and no shame about declaring who they are and in promoting their faiths. We have the True Faith and stand silent lest we offend someone or be seen as pious and no fun.

Mother at thy feet is kneeling -- I wish I could find a recording of this song

Mother at your feet is kneeling,
One who love you'tis your child
Who has sought so oft to see you.
Bless me Mother bless your child
Mother when my Jesus calls me
From this world so dark and drear
From the wily snares of Satan,
Shield me, Mother Mother dear
Dearest Mother tell my Jesus,
How I love Him fond and true
And oh Mary, dearest Mother
Tell Him I belong to you
Plead for me when Jesus judges,
Answer for me when He asks
How I spent so many moments
How perform so many tasks
Mary oh my dearest Mother

May it e'er to me be giv'n
As on earth I fondly love Thee
So, to love Thee still in Heav'n

The view from the cross

Random thoughts

The filthy spirit of Dr. Mengele lives on. I've just read an incredibly sickening story about a company that uses aborted fetal cells to test flavorings. What the hell is wrong with people? How do the employees of this company look at themselves in the mirror? The lowest, foulest prostitute on the street can look down on these people.




I love flowers but beyond plunking them in a vase and changing the water every other day I have no great skill in arranging them. Here is a a fascinating post by a Catholic artist explaining how to arrange church flowers.

Remember those fake wood cut images with the deformed looking people that were always in the missalette or the church bulletin back in the 70s and 80s and 90s? Apparently there's still a market for it.


Tonight Rocky and I went to church for the Stations of the Cross. St. Rita's uses the St. Alphonsus Ligouri version. It was beautiful as usual. There was a large crowd with lots of young couples. Fr. Eagle heard confessions. Fr. Bear led the Stations and Monsignor said Mass afterwards. Fr. Z. did a podcast of the Ligouri version. You can listen to it here.


On Sunday, Fr. Scalia ( aka Fr. Aragon and yeah he's one of Justice Scalia's sons) and Fr. McAfee will be saying Solemn Laetare Sunday Vespers.  If you attend come early so you can find some place to park.  The vespers are going to be held at St. Mary's, the oldest Catholic church in Alexandria, Virginia. It's a lovely church but the parking situation in the historic part of Alexandria is extremely limited. If you park in the wrong place you will get a ticket so finding a pay lot is your best bet.


I haven't shopped at Macy's in ages. I guess I won't be going back any time soon. They don't have anything I can't get at Dillards or Belks anyway.

if girls only knew

 A few months ago I was standing on a bus and noticed the two young guys sitting in front me. The very foolish girlfriend of one of them had sent photos of herself in various stages of undress to his phone. And what was he doing? Showing them to his buddy while the two of them laughed. I felt sorry for the girl.  Hopefully those photos didn't end up being seen by her whole school but she's already been degraded the moment she  stripped off and tried to imitate a prostitute.

She'd been told by the movies, the magazines, the TV shows and the teen novels that being sexually loose was the only way to keep a guy. She's probably never been told about mortal sin, chastity or honor by anyone she respects. Some people carry on about sexting and cell phones but it's not the phone that's at fault. 20 years ago girls were taking photos of themselves with their handy Polaroid instant camera and giving it to boyfriends who either promptly showed them to friends or tossed them in a drawer where they were later discovered by someone else.

We've lost the culture and the kids are suffering because of it.

What have you done for your priest today?

Have you prayed for him? Have you fasted for him? Did you say a nice word to him after Mass? For the love of the Man of Sorrows have you ever done anything but complain that he's not hip enough, funny enough, or social enough?

If  you have a devout, holy priest or even a pretty good bread and butter priest, thank the Lord and give him a hand.

It's seder time again

Every Lent some dear, nice Catholic announces that they're going to either a Christian seder at the parish hall or visiting Jewish friends and seeing a real seder so they can get closer to Jesus. Something about this always seemed a bit off to me  but like most Catholics my age I wasn't taught enough about traditional Church teaching and could never articulate why Christianized seders just didn't seem right. If you've ever been in that spot,  this talk by a priest posted at the very fine site, Audio Sancto. can help.

High Anxiety

My mother is frustrated with the slowness of her recovery and she hates being dependant on me and Rocky. I stopped by her home on the way home on Friday and took care of a few things. She was anxious and because the codeine she was prescribed makes her break out in hives she's not using it and is in pain. On top of that street crime has gone way up in my old neighborhood. Mama has always been very careful on the street but now, moving slowly with her cane she's concerned that she might be an easy target for some lowlife.

I'm worried and my project this year is to get her out of DC and into a safe, quiet building in Virginia.

Holy Mother, seat of wisdom. Show me what to do. Protect my dearest Mama and be a mother to her. Remember of most compassionate mother, that it's never been known that anyone who sought your help was left unaided. Like St. Catherine Laboure I throw myself at your knee and would lay my head in your lap. Amen.

A really lovely blog

Vultis Christi written by Fr. Mark Kirby.

A prayer for priests from my dear St. Therese

O Holy Father, may the torrents of love flowing from the sacred wounds of Thy Divine Son bring forth priests like unto the beloved disciple John who stood at the foot of the Cross; priests: who as a pledge of Thine own most tender love will lovingly give Thy Divine Son to the souls of men.
May Thy priests be faithful guardians of Thy Church, as John was of Mary, whom he received into his house. Taught by this loving Mother who suffered so much on Calvary, may they display a mother’s care and thoughtfulness towards Thy children. May they teach souls to enter into close union with Thee through Mary who, as the Gate of Heaven, is specially the guardian of the treasures of Thy Divine Heart.
Give us priests who are on fire, and who are true children of Mary, priests who will give Jesus to souls with the same tenderness and care with which Mary carried the Little Child of Bethlehem.
Mother of sorrows and of love, out of compassion for Thy beloved Son, open in our hearts deep wells of love, so that we may console Him and give Him a generation of priests formed in thy school and having all the tender thoughtfulness of thine own spotless love.’

Amen

Disgusted

What are we doing in Libya?

The Gospel for today

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged.

Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.

Forgive and you will be forgiven.

Give and gifts will be given to you;

a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.


For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”

You can't get any more manly than St. Joseph

It's pretty hard being a boy these days. On one hand you have the emasculators trying to turn you into a limp, pretty pushover and on the other hand you have guys who claim that anybody who doesn't have hundreds of women in his past is a beta male and not worthy to hang out with real men.  All of this is piffle. You can't get any more manly than holy St. Joseph.

Domine, non sum dignus!

Lord, I am not worthy that Thou should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.

The Centurian recognized the Truth when the wisest men in the Temple did not. The Church remembers his words forever.

Institute of Catholic Culture

On April 3rd, at 7:30 PM there will be solemn vespers and benediction in the Tridentine form at St. Mary's in Alexandria, VA. Fr. Scalia, who we nicknamed Fr. Aragon when he was still at St. Rita's will be presiding. I'm looking forward to seeing something I've never seen before.

Martin von Feuerstein

Years ago Rocky and I walked into St. James in Falls Church, Virginia and I saw  amazing Stations of the Cross. I tried to find out who the painter was but no-one knew. Later we visited another church in the Ricmond diocese and they had the same Stations but in mosaics. I kept looking on Google and I finally found out who the painter was. Martin von Feurstein was a famous artist in Germany. His art is in serveral German churches and cathdrals. He was also an art professor and a serious Catholic. This painting is a self portrait that shows his decision to dedicate his talents to the service of Christ.

The Japanese have been impressive

We haven't heard any reports of looting, rapes, or anyone blocking roads or shooting at aid workers.

Sorrowful Mysteries

Agony in the Garden

Scourging at the Pillar

Crowning with thorns

Jesus takes the cross*

The Crucifixion

* I especially love the Martin Feurstein's painting of Jesus taking the cross. It's stylized of course, but just look at His glowing face. He's reaching out to embrace the cross as if it were a beautiful thing instead of an object of horror. The priests, pharisees, and the Romans thought they were in charge but they knew nothing. Our Lord laid down His life  for love of sinners and three days later He took it up again. He was in charge and this painting does a good job showing it.

Random thoughts

• I've read a couple of blog entries on the Ash Wednesday  MassFlash mob that seemed to think the spectacle was cute. It wasn't. The purpose of Mass is adoration, thanksgiving, petition, and reparation..Anything else no matter how "charming" or "relevant" is just straw for gold.

• Hilary White, one of my favorite  bloggers has cancer. In your charity please pray for her. She's a peppery and tough woman but this is a hard blow.
  
• In Texas a pack of 20 boys and adult males raped an 11 year old girl. I realize that there are men who hate women and some of them have good reasons. I have an uncle whose treacherous wife divorced him right after she graduated from college and left him with nothing but a few pieces of furniture that he owned before the marriage. She took the kids, found their care to be too much for her gave them back to him but he still has to pay her alimony. I realize that the feminist movement unleashed horrors that we can't put back in the box. I have an inkling of understanding of what it must be like for most black boys raised by a young and foolish single mother who was herself probably ill used by an older man. The most dangerous person in a kid's life is his mom's new man. That new man may last a weekend or he may hang around abusing the kids for years. This is so common that cops and CPS workers call it mommy's boyfriend syndrome. And I know our society is so busy cheering on the single mom (You go, girl!) that there seems to be no place for the adult survivors of mom's boyfriends to vent. All that is true and terrible but why, oh why take all that rage out on an eleven year old girl?
  Lord have mercy. St. Maria Goretti, St. Germaine, St. Dymphna, Blessed Alexandrina, Blessed Karolina Kozkowna, and Blessed Albertina pray for this poor child. St. John Bosco, St. Dominic Salvo and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati pray for all the angry, neglected boys who think that women are the enemy. Oh Blessed Virgin, be their example of womanhood!

• This lad has decided to fast all Lent on just beer. Bless his heart. I hope someone gets a photo of what he loooks like by Easter.
  
• This Lent I'm going to do a devotion that I'd never even heard of before. I'm reading the seven penitential psalms every day.

Mater Dolorosa

Shahbaz Bhatti

His life was gentle, and the elements

So mixed in him that Nature might stand up

And say to all the world, 'This was a man!'

St. Katherine Drexel, a magnificent woman

St. Katherine was not only a holy woman but she was a truly magnificent one as well. She was loving towards and used her own money to help two of the most despised groups in America at the time: Indians and blacks.  She was a great friend to Fr. Tolton, the first openly black priest in America. When she created Xavier University, a black college, many whites in Louisiana were horrified. She was opposed and threatened on occasion but the hard headed little lady from Pennsylvania kept right on.

In memoriam

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
 
Two American airmen were murdered in Frankfurt, Germany by a Muslim from Kosovo. The coverage in the media has been pathetic. We know more about what's on what's left of Charlie Sheens' brain than we know about the killer of our fellow Americans.

Thank you, St. Alphonsus!

My mother had surgery on her arthritic knee this afternoon and it went beautifully. The surgeon was delighted with the results. Rocky and I are very thankful.