you gotta read this book

I just finished Ten Dates Every Catholic Should Know. It's fantastic. The author is a Catholic historian and not only does she know her stuff, she knows how to present it as well. I was enthralled. Every time things look impossibly bleak God takes care of his people. He corrects, and comforts. I was especially moved by the description of the last days and death of little Prince Louis Charles, son of Louis and Marie Antoinette. The cruelty metted out to this little innocent is horrifying and I found myself wishing that I could somehow step into history and comfort him. I was glad that he had one kind person near him at the end.

This was sad and the fall of France stems directly from the rejection of Our Lord's Sacred Heart. The section on Fatima was sobering. I wish that Russia could've been unambigusously consecrated ((a lot of good, and yes, sensible Catholics still doubt that the consecration ever happened) but apparently Mary did accept what was done. However, the book reminds us that Mary's requests were not just for the pope. She asked the people for daily recitation of the rosary and pennance. How many of us are doing that and if you look at Western society how soon will another great chastisement come?

Archbishop Wuerl

That about covers it....

faith in action

Last Thursday was the coldest of the year in Virginia. It was in the teens. Rocky and I went to confession and Adoration that night. As usual the heat wasn't on (money saving measure) and I dont' think I've ever been so cold indoors in my life. I sat very still, looked at Jesus and prayed hard. As miserable as it was in church I saw many people there. Archbishop Sheen once said that the laity would save the Church and I have come to believe that. Our bishops have let us down, many of our priests have betrayed us but people still come. There is still Faith and hope and love.

books, glorious books

Rocky and I stopped by the Catholic Information Center bookstore in DC tonight. He bought the Handbook on Indulgences, a new Stations of the Cross book and I got the Little Office of the Virgin Mary and Ten Dates Every Catholic Should Know.

What are you doing about it?

Archbishop Wuerl gave a speech at the Catholic Information Center in DC. There was a question and answer session aftewards. This really got me :

He [Wuerl] noted that he sometimes gets letters from Catholics demanding to know what he will do about such situations.
His temptation, he said, was to reply with, "What are YOU doing about it?


Well, Your Eminence, for starters I will pray for you and I will refuse to give one red cent to your Lenten appeal this year.

____________________________________________________________________________________

What I long for....

Catholic Answers Forum

just realized something. Catholic Answers Forum is downright scary. Some of those questions and answers are from the Twilight Zone. One person asked if it was true that SSPX women aren't allowed to drive. I guess they just bilocate to Mass then? Whenever I read the messages on CAF I'm reminded that amateur thelogians are to be avoided.

On Obama-rama and other things

• 
  Why does the church allow priests like Fr. Pfleger to be in charge of black parishes? Don't black Catholics deserve a decent pastor too? Don’t they deserve Catholicism as opposed to some warmed over faux Baptist teaching? And after reading this joker's comments on the laughable Barak Obama I'm just disgusted.
  
  "Do not touch this man," he says, "for if you do, you will answer to us all."

Uh, Father. Who the hell is "us" and what do you mean by "answer"? I don't know how intelligent the black folks in Chi-Town are but you DO NOT speak for all black people. The trouble with people like Fr. Pfleger is that for them it is 1968 all the time.

• Why do we have gay ministries? Why aren't there fornicator's ministries or wife beater ministries or ministries and clubs for tax cheaters and petty thieves?
  
  
• 2008 is looking pretty bad already. I can't vote for Romney. He's not pro-life and I can't vote for a Mormon anyway. Someone who thinks he's going to be a god one day shouldn't' t be anywhere near the nuclear button. I love Giuliani but he's an open serial adulterer, is pro-gay and pro-death so I can't vote for him. Brownback has a snowball's chance in hell of winning anything and I'll sprout wings and fly before I vote for Newt. As for McCain, I respect his service and his POW status but the dude reminds me of Raymond Shaw from Manchurian Candidate. I don't think he's mentally fit to be the Prez. You know what? Hillary is going to win. Ugh!
  
  
• So it's January 2007 and still no Indult. Did you really believe….?
  
  
• Archbishop Wuerl continues to disappoint.
  
  
• When a man invites you (just you, dear and nobody else) to his home for cocktails it usual means his you know what and your tail. So this doesn't shock me as much as it has some others in blog land.
  
  
• It's been said that the reason why more priests and bishops don't preach the timeless truths is because they're afraid of schism. If that's true that for the love of God, gentlemen preach it and bring on official schism. Is it not better to cut off a gangrenous foot than to let it poison the whole body?
  

Now this is a strange situation

A priest in Bumpass, Virginia was caught stealing from his parish. It turns out that the dude ws married and was using the money to take care of his family.

random thoughts for a wet Tuesday night

• Rod Dreher has left the church so why is he still writing about about it? His comments on the resignation of Archbishop Wieglus are interesting but I thought he was done with us. I'm glad Wieglus decided to step down. His presence would not have been good for the church or for Poland.
  
  
  
• Yesterday I went to morning Mass to celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. Fr. Frodo gave the most wonderful homily. I felt tears come to my eyes. He cares so much about the Mass and about imparting some wisdom in his homilies. He's a young priest and is a real gift from God. Rocky couldn't make it to Mass during the day so we went to the 7PM Mass at St. Joseph in Alexandria. There were about 10 people there and it was lovely, like a private family Mass. Two other women besides me had on mantillas and we said the rosary and a novena to St. Joseph too.
  

The movie meme

Carolina Cannonball has tagged me. Yippe!

Favorite Film?

This is a hard pick but I think it's between That Hamilton Woman with Vivian Leigh and Laurence Olivier

or The Shop Around the Corner with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan.

Your Favorite Film Priest?
Oh that's easy it's got to be W.G. Fay as Fr. Tom in the 1947 movie, Odd Man Out. Fr. Tom is gentle and quiet but is easily the bravest, strongest man in the film. It's a tragic movie about a young IRA man who's been wounded and is running for his life from the Brits. Three people desparately want to find him. The Colonel from England who plans to hang him of course, Kate, the young girl who loves him and surprises even her self with her fierce resolve to help her man and Fr. Tom who wants to save his soul. The last lines of the hero and heroine gave me chills and I never forgot them. "Is it far?" "Yes, dear. It's far but I'm coming with you."

Your Favorite Film Nun?

The magnificent Rosalind Russell as Mother Superior in The Trouble with Angels.

Favorite Old B movie?

Band of Angels starring Clark Gable and Yvonne De Carlo.

Newer B-Movie?

Motel Hell. One of the funniest horror movies ever made. It even made my mama laugh and she doesn't like horror movies.

I tag anybody who feels like playing.

random thoughts for a thursday night

• When did our bishops decide that it's more important to be politically savvy than to tell the truth? Nancy Pelosi (pro abortion to the max) is going to a Mass at Trinity college in DC. She will probably take Communion and Bishop Wuerl won't say or do a dog on thing about it.

• When is Fr. James Haley going to be back in a parish?
  
  
• I don't know if she's a real nun or not (I suspect not) and sometimes I'm not even sure if she's really Catholic but her blog sure is interesting.
  
  
• Gerald Ford's was an Episcopalian. His funeral service was so much like a modern Novus Ordo Mass that my husband was confused and asked, "When did Ford convert?"
  
  

beautiful night

Rocky and I went to Thursday night adoration and confession. There was a good sized crowd there and lots of young people who seemed serious about what they were doing. And we had two devoted young priests. It was a heartening experience.

Oh dear

An Anglican who converted to Catholicism and is now a priest wrote this on his blog.

What really caught my eye was this paragraph:

I also feel connected with Catholics all over the world in a way I never felt as an Anglican. The Mass I say at school or at St Mary's is the same Mass being said at St Peter's in Rome, the same Mass being said at the slum school we support in El Salvador, the same Mass being said in the ugly modern brick church we once attended in England.

With all due respect to a priest, that's well, nonsense. These days Mass isn't the same from one church to another and hasn't been in more than 40 years. The intent may be the same. The sacrifice is the same but the actions? Oh heck no. Go to my parish and you'll find a lovely, reverent Mass. Go to the one a mile away and you'll find a freak show. Go to one five blocks away and you'll find a priest who waxes poetic about his beloved Green Bay Packers during the homily.

I have attended a Mass where the priest behaved like comedian and brought his dog. I've attended Mass where the priest shilled for the Democrats and all but told us to vote for Hillary. I've attended Masses where the priest was so offensive that I ran out. I've been to Masses where everything BUT holiness appeared to be present. I have been to Masses where the main purpose seemed to be to give the Eucharistic ministers something to do or to give the choir a chance to put on a concert. The Pope wouldn't recognize some of the things I've seen as a Mass at all and Cardinal Arinze would run away screaming. Fr. Longenecker is in for a big shock.

Mother dearest, Mother Fairest!

Hail Mary, full of grace, the lord is with you.

Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen

Mary the Mother of God Mass

We went to Blessed Sacrament in Alexandria. It's one of the ugliest churches in the Arlington (Saint Ann's aka "the stadium" may be uglier but not by much) diocese but good things are happening there. Fr. Kreegan is a no nonsense old school priest and he has two plucky young parochial vicars but oh the music was ghastly. It reminded me of an AME Zion church service and I don't mean that as a compliment. Also there was an altar girl.

On the plus side the eucharistic ministers had the day off. (Yay! Yay! Yay! Woo Hah!) Instead three priests offered communion. There was only one familiar song played and no-one sang to it becuase everyone was rushing out. Oh well.

Does anybody know why today was not a holy day of obligation? So what if it's on a Monday. Most people were home today, it being New Years and all.

So you think your Nativity set is impressive?

Check out the Pope's set. Saint Joseph must be 10 feet tall and look at the size of Baby Jesus!

On the 5th day of Christmas I sat down to blog

Christmas has been great so far. I am in such a good mood and it's been no stress at all. I did most of my cooking on Christmas Eve and put it all in the fridge. The turkey, ham, stuffing, gravy, rolls and mashed potatoes were prepared at the last minute on Christmas Day. Rocky loved the hot and spicy string beans I did this year and everybody was crazy about the double chocolate cake.

Mass on Christmas Eve was lovely, simple and sweet. Fr. Theoden looked very happy to see us--- what a good man. Despite the size of his parish he manages to say and remember something about all of us. Fr. Aragorn was jollier than usual.

For Christmas Day Mass we had five altar boys and a delightful seminarian. The church organist played the new carillion and mercifully the cantor toned it down and sang a Kyrie and Glory to God that you didn't need years of vocal training to actually follow. Traditional hyms and carols were sung. The church was decorated beautifully and the creche was displayed in Mary's chapel. My mama, who is not Catholic was favorably impressed and that is saying something.

I didn't decorate until Christmas Eve and decided that I absolutely had to have a white tree this year so I hopped on the bus, marched over to Sears and bought one. It's pre-lit and the branches are hinged on. Oh yes, yes, yes! I cought a cab home and had the tree decorated in record speed. The tree, along with my new living room curtains and two coats of wax on the floor made the living room look pretty good. Rocky doesn't care about decorating (thank God) but his eyes lit up when he came through the front door from work. I wish I'd had a camera ready.

May your octave of Christmas be beautiful.

Born to die

I wonder as I wander out under the sky...

how Jesus, our Savior did come forth

to die

for poor onery sinners like you and like I.....

Christmas Eve thoughts

In the drab Nativity movie Mary is presented as a sullen teen who complains about being betrothed to man she doesn't know or love. This is silly. Nazareth was an itty bitty little town. Everybody knew everybody. It was in the eyes of the other Gallileans, a crummy little backwoods place.

To this insignificant hamlet the angel of God, Gabriel came. An old hymn describes him as having wings of snow drift white and eyes like flame. I like that description it sounds like he was an awesome sight. And who did he come to? A young girl. Mary, just 14 or 15 and this angel asked her to be the mother of the messiah. Imagine that for minute. And Mary said yes. She said, "I am the Handmaid of the Lord." Archbishop Sheen once noted that in Aramaic she actually said, "I am the slave of the Lord." What perfect trust. What perfect acceptance. Oh thank you, dear Mother!


And think for a moment of Joseph. A good man, probably a young man ( the Jews of that day didn't like May-December marriages) already on his way to being a saint even then. When friends or neighbors approached him remarked rudely on Mary's pregnancy he had the presence of mind to say nothing. He knew the Child in her womb was not his but knowing Mary he surely couldn't have imagined that she did anything wrong. He would not denounce her to the world. He would not expose her to a death sentence. He decided to divorce her quietly. Divorce, not break off an engagement but actuall divorce. Mary was not an unwed mother. It makes me sick when people say that, especially if it's a priest. A betrothed couple were married under the law. They weren't living together yet but they were married.

And then the angel spoke to Joseph and he believed. He did not argue like the educated priest Zachariah did. He didn't complain that this Event was going to change his life forever. He simply believed and quickly had the wedding ceremony performed and moved Mary into his home. Thank you dear Saint Joseph. You did not care what the neighbors and your buddies said, you rushed to obey the Lord and to protect your little bride.


And then the day came to go to Bethlehem. It couldn't have been an easy trip. The pictures of Mary on a donkey look sweet but that's no luxury ride. But she and Jospeh knew their scripture. The Messiah was foretold as coming out of Bethehem, David's city. So she went. Bethlehem is a small town. Once Rocky and I were in Blacksburg and were trying to find a hotel for the night. Alas there was a football game that night and there were no rooms to be had as far as West Virginia. When Mary and Joseph arrived every inn was full of people come to pay their taxes. Inns in those days were simple affairs. One might have two or three private rooms and a courtyard where poorer guests could bed down with their animals and other people. No woman would want to have a baby under those circumstances. Commentators have guessed that Mary asked for privacy and Joseph wanted her to have it. They couldn't get a room and for some reason didn't want to join the swarm in the open courtyard or just staying with one of the caravans that surely must have been surrounded Bethehem that night. Some inn keeper offered them his stable. I hope he didn't charge them too much for it.

The Child was born. Thank you, God for sending Your only Son. Thank you Jesus for leaving Heaven and coming to the world as a tiny Babe. You came not to live a pleasant life but to die. The Cross loomed over Your cradle. You came on a rescue mission to reclaim hopeless sinners. Thank you Lord!

Merry Christmas dear readers and blog friends!