Dies Irae

You know what's pathetic?

Thanks to the American media, who were looking for a story that would make Christians look bad, a vatican spokesman, the president, a general and a former governor all pleaded with a jackleg, self proclaimed pastor of a 50 person store front type church not to burn copies of the koran. This story shouldn't have gotten beyond a few local papers in Florida. Now there are people all over the world, America included who are fearful of how the Islamic world is going to react. I once wanted to be a journalist when I was a girl. I changed my mind obviously because I'm a natural born librarian but I'm so glad I didn't go into such a degraded field.

Bedevilled

Today Rocky and I watched an old B movie from the 50s. Anne Baxter played Monica, a loose living American woman who's on the run from a gangster in Paris. Her luck changes when she runs into a fellow American. He's a young stalwart man who's going to the seminary in a few days. He tries to help her and in the end leads her back to God.

We were particularly interested in a scene where Gregory, the seminarian-to-be and Monica run into a church. The rosary is being prayed and the church is not only packed but the priest, who is presented as a wise, noble man is leading it with four altar boys by his side. The thugs chasing Monica follow but take off their hats in church and when an usher frowns at them they sit down.

At the end of the movie Gregory is sitting in his cassock with his class listening to the rector, who quotes the following poem. As the old priest talks the camera pans up to a close up of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and then the picture fades to black. Bedevilled was not a great film. It wasn't meant to be but it was entertaining, suspenseful and showed a world that doesn't exist anymore. The priesthood, the religious life, and the Church were shown with respect. The hero is presented with two great problems. He must save the heroine and he must make it the seminary. The writers of the movie make it clear that if Gregory isn't at the seminary come Monday morning it would be a great tragedy. Can you imagine anything like this being made today?

To live in the midst of the world
without wishing its pleasures;
To be a member of each family,
yet belonging to none;
To share all suffering;
to penetrate all secrets;
To heal all wounds;
to go from men to God
and offer Him their prayers;
To return from God to men
to bring pardon and hope;
To have a heart of fire for Charity,
and a heart of bronze for Chastity
To teach and to pardon,
console and bless always.
My God, what a life;
and it is yours,
O priest of Jesus Christ.

—Fr. Lacordaire

Wadrobe

Wardrobe

My love gave me a king's robe

mock purple and red

My love gave me a white coat

a fool's coat, He said.

My love gave me a weft crown of thorns for my head,

Because He is my true love,

He wore them instead

Sr. M. Madeleva Wolff

Pray for priests

In her book, St. Therese said that she became a nun to save souls and to pray for priests. Well, most of us can not join the cloister but we can all hold hands with Therese and pray for the men God has chosen to do His work.

Back at St. Rita's

I was too sick to go to Mass last week and it felt really good to get back today. We went to confession , and while Rocky prayed in a pew I walked around the church and visited our Infant of Prague statue, which looks more like the very serious Toddler of Prague. We have a new veil made by the Bennedictine nuns in Kansas for our tabernacle which is quite pretty.

Confession is such a wonderful gift. You go in, make a clean breast of things and come out in a state of grace.

Theology of the Body gives me the creeps

Never trust anybody who spends their whole life talking about sex. Whether, it's Hugh Hefner, who is at least an open, honest pervert, the TV and radio love doctors, your "funny" uncle whom you were never allowed to be alone with, or the old Cottonmouthed neighborhood guy that all the kids were told to stay away from.

The sex obsessed freak is oftentimes an authority figure. All these stories we read about teachers preying on students aren't a new thing. It's always gone on but now they get reported. Frequently sex bores and fanatics have big fancy credentials. They went to an institute in Europe, or they wrote a lot of papers or like Dr. Kinsey, a real monster, they had a gulliable press who believed everything they said. The Theology of the Body people give me the creeps especially when I read stuff like this:

At a TOB meeting, Dr. Janet Smith stated that God is a stalker and that all lovers are pathological stalkers. I know the woman was just going for dramatic effect but this too much. I wouldn't go to this person for advice about love or God or much of anything.

Fr. Loya, whom I've never heard of before, but is apparently a big chief in the TOB tribe said that "TOB is not a big idea. It is THE big idea." I thought the big idea was Jesus.

To the SSPX folks

Some squirrely, people on Fisheaters.com * engaged in name calling aimed toward Charlotte at Cheeky Pink Girl. That wasn't very gentlemanly and she has a spirited response for them, but this dust up got me to thinking. I know that many people were hurt during the Vat II era. I recall reading about a man who was a teenager at the time, who witnessed his mother being brutally insulted by a fanatical get-with-the-times priest because she was praying the "old fashioned" rosary AFTER Mass. I get why people were left with scars and bitterness.

I know traditional/orthodox (pick your term) minded Catholics have been treated badly even today. Anyone who balked at the zeitgeist-- "Why did you move the Blessed Sacrament down the hall?", " Why is the lector wearing a mini dress and why do we have to see her underwear when she bows?" "Why doesn't Fr. give communion anymore but sits and lets the EMCs do it? "Why do you want to strip my baby naked and plunk his butt in the baptismal font and wave him around like Simba in the Lion King?" "Why is the choir singing music from Phantom of the Opera?"---were told to sit down and shut up.

Some people reacted by taking the blue pill and telling themselves that as long as they stayed away from parish activities, avoided the priest outside of Mass, and stayed away from butch nuns everything would be fine. Other people either took the red pill and decided to fight or they took the red pill and realized that things weren't fine but were too damned tired and chose to fight no more forever. Yeah, there's been pain in the pews but we have sympathetic pope now. I'll repeat that. We have a sympathetic pope. He's holding his hand out; don't be fools and slap it away while you go pout in the basement. What I've said about the Sr. Chisseters, the Pelosis, Fr. Rohr's and O'Briens and the snooty Anglo Caths who say they'd be willing to convert if it wasn't for our ugly churches and lame music, goes for the SSPX as well. You can not be Catholic but with conditons. Lyndon Johnson once said it was better to have enemies inside the big tent pissing out than standing outside pissing in but I'd prefer that the SSPX and others on the left side of the spectrum stop the flow altogehter. Either you're in or you're out. Make up your minds. If you are in, welcome. We'll work things out somehow. If you're out, say so and get the heck on down the road.

I personally am grateful when I find a reverent Mass, whether it's Novus Ordo or TLM. For those who don't like the NO, that's okay. Thanks to Pope Benedict you can go to an approved TLM. Yeah, you may have to drive for hours but the Mass IS available somewhere and the numbers of TLMs are increasing. My own parish St. Rita is now going to have the TLM every Thursday evening at 7:30, plus a Holy Hour on Wednesdays.

The good Lord has handed the the SSPX and the church in general, a great opportunity. Don't listen to Bishop Williamson and blow it. I hope Pope Benedict lives a long, happy life but let's face it. He aint Methuselah. The next pope could say, "To heck with it. They're all excommunicated." Opportunity is knocking at the door. It's time to answer it or go the way of the Old Catholics a sect unknown to most of the Catholic world.

*I read Fisheaters and occasionally comment. There are good, sensible people posting and commenting at that site but there is a nutter element as well. I've read comments that made me raise my eyebrow and wonder as to whether the commenter has ever left his parents home, spoken to a woman without breaking into a nervous sweat or held a job that wasn't at a Catholic organizaion where a sympathetic friend or relative pulled strings to get him in.

Feverish thoughts on two movies

Well I'm sick today. I've been hit with a Summer cold for the first time in ages. I am cold but my skin feels hot. My bones hurt, my ribs ache from all the coughing, my glands are huge and my nose has rendered me socially unacceptable. So I'm confined to quarters and wandering from the sofa to the bed. Thanks to the Nyquil I've been having some pretty loopy dreams. The last one involved me lecturing a class on Christian lessons to be found in movies. Odd but when I woke up I thought for who knows how long about two movies in particular.

Ben Hur is one my all time favorites and I actually do think of it often when I'm heading up to communion. There's a scene where Judah has finally found his mother and sister and is trying to get them to Jesus so the Lord can heal their leprosy. When they discover that Our Lord has been crucified Judah thinks it's too late and he falls to his knees to weep, not only for his family but because he know Jesus has done no wrong. Then the rain starts and the Precious Blood flows down Golgotha to where Judah and his family are. His mother and sister are healed. When I go up to communion the prayer, "Oh Jesus, heal me of my sinfulness, the leprosy of my soul," frequently comes to mind.

And there's How Green Was My Valley, a movie that everyone passionately loves but I really don't care for. Roddy McDowell was adorable but a terrible thing is done by the "good guys" and no critic seems to have picked up on it. Aangharad and Mr. Gryfud, preacher are in love but she marries the son of the mine owner, with Gryfud presiding. They ruin a man's life but come off as the hero and heroine of the movie. It's funny. As a child I liked the movie but as a grown married woman I was repelled. Time is a real sentiment wrecker.

the race thing again

I was reading an essay by a doctor who was horrified when a black aquaintance told him that well-to-do blacks go on all black cruises---gasp, and have guest speakers like Louis Farakhan. From this the doctor concluded that a race war is on the way. He figured that if educated black people were paying to hear Farakhan speak then the underlass is just a roiling cauldron that's fixing to bubble over any year now.

I think the doc either heard what he wanted to hear or he simply got punked, as the kids say. Farakhan is old, and sick with prostate cancer. He doesn't travel like he used to and I don't think he'd be happy on a boat with alcohol, gambling, pork and women in bikins. Yes, there are all black cruises. Usually it's family reunions, associations, sororities, fraternities, music festivals and the like. I don't see what's so frightening about that.

Now, I do believe that the Obama era has worsened race relations. There has been stupidity on all sides. Rocky and I went to one of the black parishes in our diocese and found a framed photo of Obama on the wall next to MLK and St. Martin de Pores. I was so upset my stomach churned. Obama is not a saint, he's not the reward for our ancestors surviving slavery. He's not a prophet, prince or mesisah. As the economy tanks I think people, except for the creepy true believers are starting to wake up but I fear that it's too little too late, like the people who realized that Jim Jones was a monster right before their neighbors forced the Kool-Aid down their throats.

Lord have mercy.

Christ have mercy.

Lord have mercy.

St. Martin, pray for us.

St. Moses, pray for us.

St. Katherine Drexel, pray for us.

St. Josephine, pray for us.
Henriette deLile, pray for us.
Mother Mary Lange, pray for us.

St. Rocco Day

He's not the patron saint of kids with skint knees. You can read about him here.

a blow upon a bruise

The drunk driver who killed Sr. Denise Mosier was being represented by Catholic Charities in his deportation proceedings. So, when you give to Catholic Charities you are helping people who have broken the laws of our country beat the rap. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and cuddly inside?

The Assumption

favorite devotion meme

Charlotte of Cheeky Pink Girl tagged me to play in the five favorite devotions meme. She's right, I'm not much for memes but here goes........

My five favorite memes are:

1. The rosary. I started praying the rosary every night after my father died when I was 13. Today I try to pray at least a decade every day. It is such a huge comfort to me. It's like sitting in Mary's lap.
   
2. The Severn Sorrows of Mary. I love this devotion. Mary promised that she will assist those who say this devotion at the hour of their death.
   
   
3. The Divine Mercy chaplet.
   
4. The St. Therese chaplet.
   
5. The 7 churches pilgrimage on the night of Holy Thursday. This one is a favorite of Rocky's as well. In Europe, Rome especially, people walk from church to church. We drive. It's usually around midnight when we finish but it's so worth it to sit or kneel or lie prostrate near Jesus in the various altars of repose.

Hail Mary, full of grace

Random thoughts

• I wish people would stop comparing Michelle Obama to Marie Antoinette. Antoinette was a vivacious young girl who didn't have a mean bone in her body. She was modest, charitable, gentle, well meaning and at the end of her life, a woman of enormous courage, dignity and grace. When urged to flee for her life she declined and chose to stay with her husband. She NEVER said, "Let them eat cake," that was a complete lie spread by her enemies and perpetuated by the ignorant.

• A growing number of conservatives and Catholics are saying that in the wake of the gay "marriage" decision in California it's just a matter of time before it's the law of the land and that the rest of us should just drop out of the whole civil marriage thing. They argue that the goverment shouldn't be involved in marriage anyway and that we all ought to go to our churches, synogauges, worship spaces, fetish huts or whatever floats your spiritual boat and get married that way. That sounds okay but do you really think the professional gays will be satisfied? If we abandon civil marriage---and I'm okay with that--- they will eventually follow us into our churches and demand to be married there. It's not about tolerance, it's about rubbing our noses in crap and making us say "thanks."
  
  
• I find the Inside Catholic site to be nigh on underable now. Between the new design and the recent low quality of the essays I think I'll skip it and read Creative Minority Report instead.
  
  
• My family reunion was great but a bit sad. One cousin has been blinded in one eye by glaucoma, another is still vital but is showing signs of age, an aunt has gone deaf... I found myself looking fondly around the room and wishing that I could stop time and keep everyone together healthy, laughing, just as we are. It was a childish wish I know but I was feeling tender and sentimental.
  
  
• Abortion really doesn't fix anything. The 1930s and '40s singer/actress Jeanette McDonald got pregnant out of wedlock while filming one of what became one of her biggest hits. The head of the studio told her to have an abortion. Jeanette told her sweetheart, Nelson Eddy that she'd miscarried. He didn't believe her and broke off their relationship. She lost her child and the one man she really wanted but she had the cold comfort of her career. Years later Eddy forgave her but by that time she was too old for childbearing and he'd married another.
  I thought about Jeanette when I read about the death of actress Patricia Neal. Patricia fell in love with Gary Cooper but he was married so she had an abortion. Both Gary and Patricia later converted or in her case, returned to Catholicism. She had a brilliant career but made it clear that she spent the rest of her life wishing that she'd gone ahead and had her baby.
  
  
• It's a mistake to call radical Muslims Medieval thinkers or use the term as an insult. In the Middle Ages Catholics built the first universities, castles that still stand, and the great cathedrals. They wrote poetry, sang songs and composed music that is still performed today. A Medieval queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine married the king of France, went on a crusade. Legend has it that she and her ladies rode to war dressed like Amazons. She divorced her boring husband and fell in love with Henry Plantagenent who became king of England. When she fell out of love with Henry she instigated a revolt against him and although it failed she survived the defeat, ultimately triumphed and lived to see two her sons crowned king. You think the Muslim world could've produced such a woman? And what about Saints Genvieve, Anthony, Gertrude, Francis, Dominic, Augustine of Cantebury,Leo, or Thomas? Our age has obviously not bred such powerful saints. The Middle Ages were a fascinating, complex, time, an age of legends.
  
  
  

Priesthood in South Carolina

Riding the Crescent

I'm on the Crescent (named after the Crescent city because it goes all the way to New Orleands), train headed to South Carolina for my family reunion. I love train travel. Rocky, my mother and I had a delicous meal in the dinning car and then went back to our seats. The only tiny little flaw is that we have a bunch of people from New Jersey on board. The guys aren't so bad but the women sound like a bunch of geese honking.

Rest in peace,

Sister Denise Mosler was killed yesterday by a drunk driver. He was an illegal immigrant who'd been arrested before for DUI and was awaiting deportation. She was on her way to the convent in Bristow, Virginia. The other nuns who were in the car with her are in serious condition.

Eternal rest grant unto her Oh Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace.

With all due respect

Auxiliary Bishop Gabino Zavala of Los Angeles recently made a comment about bloggers:

"We are particularly concerned about blogs that engage in attacks and hurtful judgmental language. We are very troubled by blogs and other elements of media that assume the role of magisterium and judge others in the church."

Bishop Zavala I wish you were particularly concerned about how ignorant the average American Catholic child is, or the day in and day out abuses of the Mass but no, you and your brothers are fretting about me speaking my mind.

Anne Rice

Well, Anne Rice has decided to quit Christianity. I wish I was surprised but really, if you look at poor Mrs. Rice it was just a matter of time. In many ways she's led a very sad life. Her parents are dead, her mother was an alcoholic who died from it when she was 13. Her little daughter died, her sister and husband died and her son is gay. She must feel like dandelion fluff in the wind.

I've never read her greatest literary work, Interview With a Vampire because when I was 14 I walked into book store and picked up what I thought was a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. It was one Rice's "erotic" novels, actually it was grotesque beyond my ability to describe it. I read a couple of paragraphs and was so shocked that I left the store and never had the slightest desire to touch anything by her ever again.

When she had her big splashy reversion to Catholicism I thought it was great for her sake but I also thought the big time bloggers and Catholic intellectuals who lavishly praised her autobiography and her blasphemous Jesus books--- seven year old Jesus striking a bully dead and then apologetically raising him back to life, a young Jesus having a chaste but angst ridden romance with a girl from Cana????--- were nuttier than a Benedictine fruit cake. I am comforted by the fact that most notable priests and bishops did not join the bandwagon.

Where there's life there's hope and the story is not over for Mrs. Rice. I don't think Our Lady, and St. Therese, whose statues have decorated her homes, are done with her. However, there's a lesson here: Remember the parable of the sower. And if you want to read about the life of Our Lord get a copy of Archbishop Sheen' book or Father Giuseppe Ricciotti's scholarly work.

The Virgin sleeping in the home of her parents

ugly truth is better than pretty lies

A lot of people are shocked (oh come on!) and horrified by the new story about a gay priest scandal in Rome. A reporter followed priests to gay clubs and watched them have sex with other men, which IS the whole point of going to a gay club. I can't figure out why anybody is surprised by this. Let's face it. For the last few decades the church has been heavily effeminate.

Over the years I've seen article after article asking where the Catholic men are. These articles mostly discussed theories as to why men weren't going to Mass or taking part in parish life but what a lot of people whispered was "Where are the manly priests?"

Read Goodbye Good Men some time and you'll get an idea of what the hell went wrong in our seminaries. One of my dear friends went to the Redemptorist seminary back in the 80s. He and all of his friends left because they could not stomach the open homosexuality. The last straw for my friend was when he walked in on an attempted seduction scene between a professor and a seminarian. He reported what he saw and was told to hush up and forget it.

Have you noticed how middle aged priests speak very carefully about their seminary days? Most don't seem to remember it fondly and say that they had to spend a lot of time keeping silent in order to get through and be ordained. The seminaries were a gay kingdom/playground for a long time and yes, we are reaping the miserable results. And there's something else: a lot of church women prefer a girly priest because he's more likely to let them have their way in running the parish. Until a scandal breaks out they're secretly delighted that their parish repels men. Scandals come but truth is better than lies. We need to face the truth and demand that the bishops clean up the cesspool. Until then we will keep on hearing about false hearted priests who use parish money to keep their lovers, Judases who abuse boys, and priests who preach a weak, strange gospel.

give converts a break

I was reading yet another snippy comment on a blog about converts and sighed. My husband is a convert of five years and he's a better Catholic than I, who was baptized at age nine.
He's a better Catholic than most of the Catholics I know. Last year a number of cradle Catholics asked him to take over managing the young adult bible study. He declined because of his work schedule.
Now I know it's true that there are a bunch of former Evangelical converts who have become obnoxious with their apologetics businesses. I don't care for these people. When I'm in a Catholic bookstore or at an event with books I pass right by their wares.

I've read defenders of the apologetics businessmen that argue that many of these guys were preachers and it's all they know so lay preaching and teaching is the only way they can make a living. I once read the blog of a married priest in South Carolina who enthusiastically praised Mark Shea for being so heroic. Me, being a smart alec wrote in, along with some other commenters that I didn't see what was so heroic. Father responded by saying it was heroic that Shea was giving himself fully to teaching us when he could've had a pleasant life in his old church. Since this blogger is an ordained priest I didn't say what I really thought and let it go.

There's a huge difference from the professionals and the passionate convert sitting next to you at Mass. The professionals are irritating but don't let them poison your view of converts in general. It's just not fair. Oh and one more thing, every single one of the first Catholics were converts. I think Sts. Paul, Peter, Martha, John, the Magdalene, James, and Jude and the others are pretty good company to be in.

Oh Bristol, Bristol, Bristol

Oh baby, I know Levi is kinda cute and he obviously has the sad puppy eyes and the silver tounge thing down pat but sweetie, darling if you marry him you'll end up supping at Sorrow's 24 hour diner with a long spoon.

Loved the Amish, hated Philly

On our last day in the lovely Pennslyvania Dutch country we came across a benefit auction for Haiti. There were hundreds of parked buggies and swarms of well mannered happy kids. Amish ladies sewed and donated over 100 quilts, there was furniture, food, and crafts for auction as well. I have great respect for the Amish in general but I was especially touched by the kindness of these people.

The next day Rocky and I went to Philadelphia. The City of Brotherly Love was an experience. The visitor's center is poorly arranged, confusing and had only one set of smelly restrooms that were at the end of a looooong hallway. And while the civilian staff was fine, the park rangers were shockingly rude and unhelpful. We got into the line at one o'clock but were curtly told us that we could not get into Independence Hall until the five o'clock tour. Okay, could we buy tickets for the five o'clock tour? Nope. Come back at five and wait. Gee, thanks.

Another ranger yelled at Rocky because he wanted him to move away from the ladies room. Rocky politely but firmly let the ranger know that no, he wasn't loitering, he was waiting for his wife. Thanks to a combination of heat and something I ate, I was suddenly, miserably, violently sick and took a good twenty minutes to recover. When I finally came out the ranger scowled but said nothing. Since this guy had sat on his butt all day in the nice air conditioned visitor center I don't know what his malfunction was.

Rather than wait around until five we took the Big Bus City tour and it was terrible. The tour buses are dirty, stinky and in run down condition, the windows are small so you can't see anything really unless you're on top of the bus in the double decker level. The buses have no air conditioning and in order to get people off and on quickly they never shut the doors. The highlights of the tour for me were seeing the Rocky steps and statue and the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. The cathedral ambassadors were very nice women and the cathedral is the most beautiful one I've ever seen. I'll go back to Philly one of these days but I'm in no hurry. The city really does a piss poor job handling tourists.

Master Chief at St. James

We went to Mass at St. James in Litiz, Pennsylvania. It was interesting and a bit sad. The church is very plain. It looks like a Quaker Catholic church, if there was such a thing but the pews were the most comfortable I've ever sat in. At first I thought we'd come to a special Mass becuase we were at least 25 years younger than anybody else there. But no, it was the regular 5 PM vigil. Before Mass we heard Chopin's Prelude #15, The Raindrop which I love but it isn't meant for church and it always makes me think of Halo now. The parishioners sang with gusto--- the Servant Song , which is about the singers, and God not so much and and another song that was startlingly self congratulatory.

Veronica's Veil

Vacation

Rocky and I are going on vacation and I really need it. I'm exhausted and more than a little cranky thanks to a mild bout with insomnia. On top of that I always get jittery in July anyway because it's annual review time and I can't stand the whole process but mine went well (whew!) and I'm getting a raise.

One of the greatest things in the world is to be on a long, windy country road with my dear husband Rocky. Cares just melt away..........

the novice

When I was a little girl I wanted to be a Poor Clare or a Carmelite like St Therese..............

Are you a poor ambassador for Christ?

There is a fiery blogger who's a lasped Catholic and still quite angry about her experience in the annulment courts who once wrote that it doesn't matter what the good priest says if the average person finds the Christians he meets day to day, utterly repulsive.

Sisters of Mercy

an odd thing

St. Josemaria Esciva once had a letter from a friend who complained that the Mass was too long. The saint wrote back that the friend's love was too small. I'm often reminded of this when I see people leaving Mass early. Some leave right after communion. Others bolt as soon as the priest begins reading the announcements. I sympathize with these latter folks a tiny bit. There's no reason for the priest to read what's in the bulletin unless most of the people in the pews are known to be illiterate. Then there are the scowling or distracted folks who just about run me over in the parking lot trying to peal out. By their actions they all are screaming "Thank God that's over. I've done my obligation, now let's go eat!" I've seen old folks do this and younger people as well so it's not a generational thing. Are these people protesting in some way? Are they just lazy? What is it?


When did it become so widespread to do the barest bare minimun regarding the Mass? My husband's Baptist grandmother rarely left her church sooner than an hour after the service. She was talking to her friends, talking to the pastor, talking to the choir director about the performance or making plans for the next church dinner. My grandmother never rushed out of little un-air conditioned Bethesda Baptist either. Sunday was the highlight of her week. She loved going to church. I don't get that impression from most of the Catholics I see in the pews around here.

Men's hearts have grown cold. We are casual with the Lord when we come to Mass and then rush away from Him as soon as we can. Men's hearts have grown cold.

Two ghastly blogs and one confusing one

I discovered a newish blog written by a stay at home wife. I won't link to it or even say the name. I'd rather not send her any traffic, nor do I want her to visit me here. She's a Christian but I don't ever want to set foot inside her church if she's an example of what her denomination produces. She dislikes career women, women who aren't her class and really has a bee in her bonnet about well...let's just say that she reminds me of Mae Ella Ewell and Queen Gertrude's famous line.

The other blog is a sedevacantist blog that I came across accidentally. When the page first loads it looks lovely and then once you start reading a few posts you realizet that you've wandered into drooling insane land. I was tempted to write a comment but it would be pointless to try to tell the writers that yes, Benedict is the pope and no, Michelle Obama's tacky clothes are not a sign of the apocalypse.

Finally, there's one weirdly fascinating blog, written by a guy, who occasionally writes for Inside Catholic. He's saying something but damn if I can figure out what.

St. Germaine, pray for us

Once upon a time a shabby little man stole some money from his boss. That's a bad idea in most cases but especially so in this one. The boss did not call the police. Instead he and some goons showed up at the man's house with the intent of doing him serious body harm as an example to others who might try the same thing. The man, a miserable thief was also the lowest form of coward and offered his daughter as a way to clear the debt. The boss accepted. Time passed.

Eventually someone, a horrified neighbor perhaps or maybe a teacher from the daughter's school, decided to call the police. The boss and the thieving coward father went to jail. The poor girl went to the County Home and her child went to foster care. The people who fostered the child wish to adopt her. The case is before a judge. The social workers involved in the case are fighting the adoption becuase the foster parents are white. They would have this innocent child remain in foster care until a nice black family comes along or until the natural mother fully recovers from her ordeal and is fit to take care of another living soul. It's possible that these two options will never happen.

St. Germaine, patron of abused children pray for this young mother and for this innocent child who's life is hanging on the judge's decision

Dymphna goes to the convention

I've been at the American Library Association convention all weekend. It's always a blast being around other librarians. I noticed two interesting things:

First, Catholic publishers do a really pathetic job of promoting themsleves and the Faith. I saw booths from Tyndale, the Mormons and Zondervan publishers. I even saw two Islamic publishers. Not one Catholic publisher got even a tiny booth at the biggest collection of librarians in North America. Where was Ignatius Press? Where was Tan? Instead of tyring to make Catholic book readers feel guilty by sending them begging letters and e-mails--- I'm looking at you Envoy and Sophia Press---somebody should've been at work in DC this weekend.

Second, the vampire craze in teen lit seems to have peaked. Instead I saw a number of sexy demon romance books.That's right. Instead of fantasizing about a vampire or were wolf or wizard your teenager can now imagine herself in the arms of lover who might actualy drag her to hell. Come back Edward Cullen, you brooding, sparkly little wimp, all is forgiven.

"L'Expiation" by Emile Friant

Look at the priest in this painting. See how he's embracing, comforting and perhaps even begging the criminal to repent and then have no fear.

odd things in No Va

The Muslim population in Northern Virginia is enjoying explosive growth, (no pun intended). Rocky and I went for a drive on Sunday and saw three new mosques. One has been around for ages but the others were new. Many of the converts seem to be studious looking, elegantly dressed middle class white women striding to class or to downtown DC offices. This is striking. For most of my life American Muslim converts were guys who found the Nation of Islam in prison, or young impressionable guys who got all emotional after reading The Autobiography of Malcom X.

Why would an American woman convert to Islam? Do they not know about female circumcision or the child brides or what happens to women who show too much skin in Saudi Arabia or any skin in Taliban controlled land? Did they read too many sheikh romance novels? I'm guessing that none of them has ever heard of Betty Mahmoody or read Camen bin Laden's book.

I wonder if these women are the same sort who spent the 60s hanging around some guru in California or if they're just rebelling in some way? Perhaps they never met a Christian alpha male before and the confindence and command of a Muslim man swept them off their feet. It's odd and interesting and rather like discovering that a skunk has walked into your kitchen through the doggie door.

Oh Mary help of Christians, pray for your silly daughters.

My itty bitty wedding

I was reading a blog by a man who grumbled about a tacky wedding, full of uncultured, dullard guests that he officiated. He really doesn't like weddings. I get that. Most men don't but why is this man, a permanent deacon, doing a job that he so dislikes? Can't the parish send him out on sick calls or something and leave weddings to the priest?

Rocky and I actually eloped in Baltimore and presented everyone with a fait acompli.No Pre-Cana crap for us and no living like brother and sister for a year either. @ Thanks to our realistic and understanding pastor we got truly married as soon as possible at St. Ignatius Church in Ft. Washington, Maryland and we did it on the cheap. We didn't have flowers, music, or air conditioning. It was night and we got the essentials. A fan, just enough electric light for us to make our way into the darkened church, a priest, witnesses and the loving embrace of Holy Mother Church.

Rocky was still a Baptist then and no, he could'nt have expounded on the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas. I'm not sure I could've manged more than a basic biography either. I wore a floppy baby's breath wreath from the grocery florist, that made Fr. Werner wonder about women's fashions, made my own cake, and served coca cola and possibly cocktail meatballs (I can't remember, I know there was some kind of meat product) for our less than a handfull of guests in our brand new apartment. Father chain smoked. I completely forgot about a camera and so did everyone else so there are no photos. The sour deacon would've probably had the vapors if he'd been present.

@No, I'm not saying that's the right way to do things. It's just the way we did it.

Goodbye Father

Whenever I think of Father's Day I can't help but remember the day back in 1982, when I walked into a Hallmark to buy my dad a Father's Day card. I browsed and picked the perfect one. I took two steps and suddenly the realizaton hit me. My father passed away that April. Somehow I had just blanked it out. I rushed out of the store and stood gasping in the sun on the sidewalk.

Today Father Gandalf announced that he and Fr. Frodo are both being transfered. Oh gee what a kick in the gut. I hate weepy women but tears blasted from my eyes and I could barely focus on my ususal after Mass prayers. I've always seen the good priests in my life as soldiers in a desparate war. They go where they are needed. One must expect to lose them. As for the bad to mediocre priests, well, one either thanks God when they leave or give a shrug of the shoulders and move cheerfully on. And yet, Father Gandalf was special. He was more than a pastor. Rocky and I hold him in greatest esteem, not just because of his priesthood but because he is a flat out saintly man.

All things are passing.

Bathtub Madonnas

I saw this photo on the fabulous Crescat blog and went looking for more images like it. I hit the jackpot with the Catholic Home and Garden site. The woman who created it has a treasure of Catholic folk customs and art. Her page on wayside and bath tub shrines was such a delight. Next I found a collection of shrine photos from Massachussets here.

St. Clare and St. Francis and St. Anthony

I don't think of myself as much of a Franciscan. I've never been inclined to join the Third Secular Order but Rocky and I have often found ourselves and peace at Franciscan monasteries.

This morning Rocky went to Mass at one of his favorite places, the Poor Clare monastery in Alexandria and heard the sisters chanting. We always spend Good Friday at the Franciscan monastery in DC, and we love visiting the St. Anthony shrine in Ellicot City, Maryland. So it's with some dismay that I have to ask what's going on at the DC Holy Land monastery.

Therapists now offer various questionable services somewhere on the grounds and pro abortion, pro gay marriage, MSNBC loudmouth, Chris Matthews is going to be the key note speaker at a dinner given by the Catholic Network of Volunteer Service at the monastery's banquet hall next week. The good folks at Restore DC Catholicism are planning to picket.

The ideas of picketing at the Holy Land monastery of all places makes me sad and I'm positive that the older friars probably don't even know who Chris Matthews is but the guardian friar of the monastery has a duty to know what's going on in the holy place he's charged with protecting. Perhaps the lay staff who advise the guardian have let him down. The Holy Land monastery is God's house. People who are publicly not in accord with what the Bride of Christ, the Holy Catholic Church teaches ought not be honored on the property.

Dear St. Francis, St. Clare and beloved St. Anthony, pray for your brothers.

A sad sight.

A few days ago when Rocky and I saw a young girl wearing a dress that appeared to be a one piece swimsuit. She was strutting along with a smile until she passed by several Latino men. They said something to her and laughed. The smile vanished from her face and she nervously tried to yank the hem of her dress down to cover her thighs and panties. There wasn't enough material to do that so of course, her efforts failed. I watched the men. If any of them had made a move towards her I would've motioned for her to get in our car. Luckily, they were content to laugh and she was able to cross the street and go on her way in peace. Rocky was angry at the men for bothering the poor little thing, but he was amazed at the foolishness of the girl. I wasn't.

Our society tells young women that to be free and empowered, (how I hate that word) they must appear in public in states of semi nudity. It's rather like the pagan priestesses who were required to expose themselves to the worshipers as they asceneded the steps from their sacrifices. If you don't want to play this game, people call you a prude, repressed or frumpy---- oh horrors! Feminists insist that men shouldn't even enjoy look at the "freedom" display which is insanity. Of course men look. Even gay men are looking. The meanest, nastiest critics of ill dressed women tend to be gay men. Heck the entire fashion world is men like this telling us how to dress.

I don't ever, ever want to dress like a Muslim woman or rogue Mormon plural wife and I wouldn't want that young girl on the street to be forced to dress like that either but I wish I could tell her that you don't have to be a vulgarian to be a free woman. Elegance, beauty and even glamour can all be achieved while fully clothed.

St. Maria Goretti, pray for us.

St. Pelagia, pray for us.

St. Agnes, pray for us.

Sacred Heart images :Good, bad, and downright cringeworthy.

The above image of Our Lord was done in 1896 by Jose Maria Ibarran y Ponce. I like it. On the other hand, I really, really hate this particular image of Our Lord. It's so girly. What on earth was Simione thinking? This one is taken out once a year at my church. It's better than the Simione one but that little mustache and the goateed beard are horrible. As far as modern art goes this image is probably the best image Our Lord and His Sacred Heart I've seen.

Lady Gaga

When I first saw a picture of Lady Gaga I assumed that I was seeing a photograph of a female impersonator, but no, this creature is female. Her new video is obscene (well she's done that before) and is blasphemous. I won't bother to rant about Gaga, she's a lost cause unless Heaven intervenes.

The irritating thing is how many Catholics will and do buy her music. Oh they'll claim that it's okay because they're adults and that they don't let their kids listen or if their kids already own the album they've "discussed" it. They may even say that they only watched the foul video---which offends Our Lady--- so that they could competently criticize it. What a crock. What an utter crock.

You don't have to wallow in manure to know that it smells bad. I've said it before, I'll say it again. If Catholics kept our money in our wallets we wouldn't have to write op/eds or do useless protest marches. A half way moral public could send Lady Gaga back to music school tomorrow if most of us simply stopped buying her sewage today.

Body of Christ

how to ruin your life -- the men's edition

Rocky went to visit a relative a while back and found that the afternoon was a lot like walking into a warzone. The relative is unhappily married and has given up on the hope of being happy. He's hanging in there for the sake of his kids, his home and his position in his church. Misery just hung in the air like a black cloud.

Guys if you want to be unhappy just:

• marry a woman who is intellectually dull and then complain that she's dumb ---not fair, dude!
  
• marry a woman who is one or two social classes below or above you and then expect her to see the world the sme way you do
  
• marry a helpless woman who needs to be rescued---- that won't be romantic at all five years down the line when you find that she's incapable of managing the house, the children, the dog or herself
  
• marry a woman who comes from an abusive background and then be shocked that it left a mark on her spirit
  
  
• marry a woman whom you do not respect and never will
  
  
• marry a woman who sees the marriage as a way out of a bad situation
  
  
• marry a woman without learning about her past

Saints Gengulf, Rita, Monica and mighty St. Joseph, pray for us.

are deacons the new nuns?

This guy asks the question. Dear Lord, I hope not. The mannish, pant suit nuns have done a whole lot of damage.

Sacred Heart

This is the Sacred Heart image in my bedroom.

the nicest things

• Listening to the sparrows sing in the mornings.
• Seeing the goose couple that lives near the swimming pool with their six goslings.
• The smell of mulch. Yeah, it's chicken manure but it means they'll be flowers in a few days.
• The sight of Fr. praying before Mass.
• The way the church looks when there's no light but the candles.
• The smell of rain.
• The smell of the river.
• Standing up to my knees in the ice cold ocean.
• Rocky's Pope colonge
• barbeque at Dixie Bones in Prince William County
• antique statues of Our Lady
• catching sight of red finches
• seeing an osprey catch a fish
• the flight of the turkey vulture, they are ugly up close and on the ground but in the air there's nothing that can touch them.
• the smooth, thick anticipatory silence in St. Rita's before Mass.

Mansions of the Lord

Memorial Day is not about going to the beach, getting 49% off your towels, or free shipping on your catalog order. It's about honoring the fallen.

Now this is a vocations poster

HT to Cleansing Fire.

Does Archbishop Gomez give a damn

about American Catholics? I got the impression from this interview that the only thing we are good for is to aid and comfort illegal aliens. I recently read a sad story about an old couple in Arizona who are trying to sell thier home because they are sick and tired of being scared all the time. Why? They live very close to the US/Mexican border and every night packs of men come walking past thier house. Most of these people keep on going but enough of them are threatening, have stolen things from the couple's property and leave a mountain of trash in their wake that the couple just want to get out. It was supposed to be thier retirement home. But I guess Archbishop Gomez would just tell them that they are being xenophobic and need to joyfully welcome the vibrant men who are swarming past their house.

I'm sure that Archbishop Gomez will be a huge improvement over Cardinal Mahoney but I'm getting really sick of this attitude.

Sometimes shepherds lose their way

I don't trust Jesuits anymore. I don't think St. Ignatius would be happy with a spiritual son who denies transubstantiation.

Why is a deacon's wife giving a homily?

Our Lady of the Highways

When Rocky and I head north to New York we drive past the Our Lady of the Highways shrine. It's a comforting sight.

For Jackie

...despise not our petitions, O Immaculata, but in your clemency, hear and answer them, we pray

Keep calm and say your rosary

I just ordered this necklace from Etsy. I can't wait til it comes in the mail.

Three good Catholic books.

I read on the Gregorian Rite Catholic blog once that most Catholic books being published today are mediocre. I'm inclined to agree. After being burned a couple of times I now know to never spend a dime on anything published by Our Sunday Visitor, or the Paulists.

I mostly stick to Tan and just finished reading one of their publications, a sobering and well written book, Hungry Souls about the Poor Souls in purgatory. It's a a keeper and will stay on your mind for a long time.


I'm now reading Consoling the Heart of Jesus written by a seminarian and Purest of Lillies an awesome book by Fr. Donald Callaway.

Cardinal John Newman and some sad news

What's the deal with Cardinal Newman? I've read some pretty ugly, crazy(?) things from some people and ecstatic praise from others. Who's right?

I just read that a delightful young seminarian who is battling a brain tumor has had a set back.

Dear Lord, please preserve this young man, give him the strength to endure his chemo treatments and please let him recover and return to the seminary in the Fall. Amen.

St. Aloyisious Gonzaga, pray for him.
Servant of God, Frank Perater, pray for him.
Fr. Eugene Hamilton, pray for him.
St. Charles Borromeo, patron of seminarians, pray for him.

Christ, by Gari Melchers

Most people who know of Gari Melchers' art remember his nativity painting but this is the first time that I've seen his painting of Our Lord as an adult.

Catholics and the glamour of evil

I'm going to say up front that I'm for the death penalty in certain cases. If you aren't that's okay. We can disagree. I don't want to change your mind. I mention that because I'm irritated right now, no, disgusted at what I read on two Catholic blogs yesterday. A man was executed for a spree killing murder and the bloggers and comenters were far more sympathetic to him than to the families of his victims.

Some people say that Catholics are just following along with the rest of the world and that this sympathetic, therapeutic view of killers started with "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. Capote's book was primarily about two miserable human beings who slaughtered an entire family. People pitied the killers but forgot all about the victims which angers their families and the townsfolk to this day. Whenever I think of "In Cold Blood," I think, not of the two twisted young men but of Farmer Clutter and the agony he must have felt as he lay tied up in his basement and realized that there was nothing he could do to save his wife and kids or himself.

But back to the recent execution. The two bloggers who commented seemed really disturbed that the widow of one of the murder victims said, "Sorry doesn't cut it," and that she wanted the killer to quit making excuses and admit to what he did. Well, I'm standing with the widow.
"Gee ma'am I'm sorry that I blew your husband's brains out and robbed him as he lay dying but it wasn't my fault. I had a bad childhood. I'm depraved because I'm deprived. We're square now, okay?," does not cut it.

In this case the killer seems to have made a conversion, thanks be to God. He said the rosary before he died. The victims families were not impressed which also upset the bloggers who seemed to suggest that the killer is more righteous than the families. We don't know the state of anyone's soul. Think about the victims who didn't have the comfort of last rites and probably didn't have enough time to repent of their sins. Sit with the widows and watch them try to figure out how to go on. Listen to the orphans cry. Visit with someone who remembers what it's like to go to the morgue and indentify a loved ones horribly disfigured body. Don't just point fingers at the families and airily say, "You just need to forgive, you bad people." That just comes off as smug and presumptuous. Besides I thought Christians were supposed to have a special sympathy for the widow and the orphan. I didn't see any of that on display on those blogs. I hope these poor folks can find peace and forgiveness but shaking fingers at them doesn't help the process. Where is the compassion for these suffering, forgotten people who have been through so much pain and agony for so long? The glamour of evil really is stupefying.

Gussie

I was walking past my old church and saw Gussie, one of the regulars-- the guys who stand on the church steps or sidewalk and ask/demand money from the churchgoers. I've known Gussie for years. He's tall, thin and as tough as a wire cable and could be anywhere from 30 to 50. He does not like women much but he's always polite and respectful with me.

Some people look at Gussie and think that his problem is a lack of affordable housing. Nope, Gussie's problem is that he's a werewolf. No, he doesn't howl at the moon or have an excess hair problem. He looks normal from a distance but if you look, really look, into his eyes or once you get to know him you see that , the wild beast lives inside him and is just barely contained. If I were to walk into one of the parish hall rooms and find myself alone with Gussie I'd break all speed records trying to get out of there before he even noticed me.

Gussie isn't on crack, he's too healthy looking for that. He's not using coke, that's too expensive and I've never smelled alchohol on him. My guess is heroin since I've never seen him wear anything but long sleeves.

Run into Gussie when he's run out of cash for the month and needs an infusion of whatever he's on you'll see the wolf inside him. I've watched Gussie scare the heck of tourists and little old ladies. He's never touched anyone to my knowlege at least, but he can move very quickly and is uncomfortably close to victims before they even notice him coming. He'll "ask" for money but in a tone of voice that indicates that you'd better cough up the cash.

Another one of the regulars, a frail elderly man in a wheelchair was so afraid of Gussie that he would not sit in front of the cathedral but parked his chair at the corner under a tree. Gussie hated him because people naturally preferred to give to him rather than the strong, bristling young men on the cathedral steps and sidewalk. I made sure to always give poor old Elmer something.

Someone is probably thinking, 'Well Dymphna do you give Gussie money?' Of course I do. I know what he's likely doing with the money but that dollar keeps Gussie from getting desperate enough to hurt someone. There have been a few success stories among the regulars. One woman has cleaned herself up. Her brain is largely pickled by decades of alcoholism and she'll never be able to hold a job but at least she's not drinking now. Another man has gotten himself a bicycle and does odd jobs. Maybe Gussie will change. It's doubtful but miracles have happened before.

St. Matthew, pray for us.

St. Michael, pray for us.

Creepy--- when politicians want to play church

a

Nancy Pelosi did an interview in which she blithely admits to telling bishops and cardinals what they should preach at Mass. She seems to think she's the pope but she's closer to Lady Macbeth. If I ever hear my bishop tell me to embrace illegal immigration and apparently all that goes with it, at any Mass I attend I will get up and walk out until the homily is over.

Happy Mother's Day, Mama

May Mary, mother of us all, pray for you and keep you close to her immaculate heart.

This lovely painting is Our Lady of the Fruits of the Earth by Frank Cowper.

After all these years since 9/11

After all these years we still have no memorial to the dead at Ground Zero. We will however, have a mosque near the site of the slaughter. I used to be bulemic from my teens to 22. This news stirs the old obessive compulsive need to vomit. Craven blind fools rule our nation.

Pray for the dead. Knock some sense into the living.

Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen

Okay Christians, what's your excuse for still watching Comedy Central?

This is disgusting.



May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible and ineffable Name of God be forever praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth, by all the creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.

Miss Prima's post made me kinda sad

but I think what she wrote , harsh as it is, has a point.

Going to visit St. Rita

Rocky and I went to the St. Rita Shrine in Philadelphia. It's very beautiful and they have the most awe inspiring adoration chapel I've ever seen. We prayed before her relics and admired the magnificent murals depicting her life. They have confession every day and we met two wonderful Augustinian priests and a charming lady in the gift shop.

The next day we went to the parish around the corner from our bed and breakfast, St. Paul's.
It was amazing. We had cheesesteak (delicious) , cannoli from Isgro's . I've never had finer cannoli in my life. We also at the oldest Italian restaurant in the city, Dante & Luigis. It was a good trip.

If you want to feel sorry for someone....

I know it's fashionable at the moment to slobber and weep over illegal aliens but spare some pity for the wife and children of this man. I'll bet Cardinal Mahoney didn't say a damn thing on their behalf.

Random thoughts on love, sex, and other stuff

• A local young woman and her three year old daughter were murdered recently by her boyfriend. He had no fixed address, frequented homeless shelters and when he wasn't in the shelter he lived with friends. He was completely unsuitable for any kind of relationship but the poor woman brought him into her life and loved him until he got dangerous and then it was too late. Why do so many women have so little love or respect for themselves and thier helpless kids that they gravitate towards the worst possible man? Single motherhood by choice, as opposed to widows or women who had to get divorced, is celebrated by Hollywood but it's not a good thing for the kids (if a child is abused or killed the villain is most likely to be mom's new man), and it's not a good situation for the women either.
  
  
• Speaking of unsuitable men, I had a disturbing few mintues with one on the elevator of my building. I got on and there was a man from a Muslim country on there. No biggie. Living so close to DC we have people from all over the world and both Catholic Charities and the Episcopalians bring refugees to the area all the time. He looked at me and backed into the corner. He caught his breath and twitched, he sweated and looked away. The man was clearly upset by me.
  
  I'm a librarian and I was on my way to work so you can guess how I was dressed. Heck, I was wearing an ankle length skirt but he could see my face, my hair, my neck and my hands and that had him looking just like Spock in the Amok Time episode. The thought popped into my head, 'This dude must have just got off the plane,' and I just about leapt out when the elevator door opened. A man who reacts to being alone in an elevator with a woman like that isn't ready to be in the modern world. Why the hell does our government allow immigration from countries where the men are like this?
  
  
  
• I wanted to go to the Tridentine Mass at the Immaculate Conception Basilica today but stuff has come up so I won't be able to make it. Grrrrr. But Rocky and I are going on a mini pilgrimage to the St. Rita Shrine in Philadelphia next week.
  
  
  
• My mother and I were talking about all the teachers who have been caught having sex with their students. Mama pointed out that this is not new. It's always gone on but before the 24 hour news cycle nobody outside a few knew about it. She told me about Mr. X, a teacher she had in high school. There was something about Mr. X that made her wonder about him. She couldn't express it but something about him wasn't right. She graduated in 1961. In 1962, her brother called her up on the phone and said, "They finally got Mr. X." Mama's reaction was to ask what he meant. My uncle explained that Mr. X had been caught with a boy from school. He was fired and left town. The principal did not want the white school board to know about it (SC was segregated back then) and the family did not want to be shamed in the community (most people beleived that homosexuality was something that only white men did), so nothing involving legal prosecution was done. Nobody remembers or will tell what happened to the teenaged boys Mr. X was "dating" and nobody knows where Mr. X ended up.
  
  
  
• Why do so many dissident Catholics hang around? If they hate the Church so much you'd think they'd leave and start their own little cult but they don't. They stick to the Church like leeches in a pond transmitting poison as they cling.

Oh hush, Peggy

I never trust anybody who claims to know better than the Church and I never, ever trust anybody who makes money off of being a Church "insider". Oh, heck, I just don't trust Peggy Noonan anymore, period. I wonder if she'll be back as as speaker on EWTN's Family Days this year.

Catholics don't sing and that's okay

On the New Liturgical Movement blog one of the blogging team posted a defense of non singers at Mass. I appreciated it. Finally a church musician who gets it. American Catholics don't sing like the musicians want us to. The artists long for something that sounds like a Baptist or an Anglican church and that aint going to happen. Why? Well, it's simple. Singing and preaching ARE the service for Protestants. That's it. My Baptist relatives have a symbolic communion once a month.

If the music isn't good people leave the congregation. If the preacher doesn't bedazzle, people leave. In a lot of churches people frankly come just for the music. And as, I've pointed out before, at anything other than a mega church the congregation know each other well and live similar lifestyles. The music is ingrained. It's what they heard as babies, it's what they sang together in youth choir. It's what they ask for in the hospital. It's known to the whole family/congregation. At my grandmother's funeral one of her friends stood up and said, "Let's sing Mamie's favorite song." With no hesitation the whole congregation burst forth with the song. It was magnificent.

That could never happen in an American Catholic church. And you know what? That's okay. It really is. In any Catholic church there is something greater than congregational singing: there is Jesus, physically present, not a symbol--- but Jesus just the same as He was when he walked the streets of Jerusalem. He IS the Bread. He IS the Wine.

Happy Birthday Holy Father

Happy Birthday 83rd birthday to the Holy Father. When "The Ratzinger Report", was published years ago I not only thought Cardinal Ratzinger was American but also confused him with Fr. Walter Ciszek. The Holy Father has been on my mind all day. I'm very pissed off at some of the professional Catholics who should be defending him. After reading this I'm wondering what the deal is with John Allen.

St. Joan, brave warrior, plain speaker, savior of France while many a French noble cowered in bed, pray for the Holy Father.

April 15, 1982

My father passed away on this date 27 years ago. It doesn't seem possible that it's been that long. I still don't like April. His headstone says "As God would have it" and slowly, slowy night after night of saying the rosary with ashes in my mouth and gall in my blood, slowly I came to a point where I could bear the pain and shock.

Rest in peace.



"Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God" Aeschylus

Pray for Cardinal Geoge - Fr. Pfleger again

Michelle Malkin, one of my favorite essayists is very upset that Cardinal George is giving Fr. Pleger an award. The last sentence of the essay was the most disturbing to me. It sounds like Michelle is fed up and wavering in her Faith.

But back to Fr. Pfleger and Caridnal George. Yes, that situation is pathetic and maddening. However, the problem didn't start with Cardinal George. It's on his shoe like a plop of goose manure but that pile has been sitting there in full view for a long, long time. The problem started when somebody decided that the parishoners of St. Sabina's were too stupid to handle a regular Novus Ordo Mass and needed a fake African version. That person or those people may have been trying to be nice but didn't do anybody any favors.

Fr. Pfleger says things that you would not expect a man of God say. He hangs with some strange non Catholic characters. He seems to hate white men, which since he is in fact, white himself, seems schizophrenic. Fr. Pfleger should've been corrected more than a decade ago but as he said no-one "had the balls" to do it.



If Cardinal George tells Fr. Pfleger to check himself or be out of his rectory by high noon it would cause a nine day wonder news story. Fr. Pfleger would probably leave the Church and take a chunk of his parishoners with him. There would probably be a nasty legal fight to get custody of the St. Sabina's property. Cardinal George, I assume, does not want that headache so when he can' t avoid Fr. Pfleger, he'll throw him a bone. Being the head of a family or a diocese means that you have to do unfun stuff for the good of the family. The head has to take out the trash, kill snakes, and make sure the household is secure. Pray for Cardinal George, one of these days he, or another cardinal will to have to deal with this situation and it won't be pretty.

a nice story from my childhood parish

Usually I can' t stand reading the Washington Post but there was a piece of good news there that got me excited. 19 kids from my old school, St. Augustine were baptized this Easter. I was about 8 or 9 when I was baptized and I still remember how happy I was. The last time I visited St. Augustine I was so upset at what was going on during Mass that I got up and left so fast that Rocky had to run to catch up with me and but it is my childhood parish and the school was a great fortress and haven for learning and most importantly it's where I learned the Faith so I'll always have a soft spot for the old place.

Rest in peace,

My uncle Clyde passed away. He was a real character. In his youth, he looked a lot like Clark Gable with shiny black hair and great dark eyes. I was seven or eight years old before I realized that Uncle Clyde wasn't white. Some of my father's siblings strongly resembled thier Irish grandfather (Clyde did) and some don't which is why I was so embarrassingly slow in figuring that out. * Had Clyde left South Carolina or even the county I suspect he could've had an easier life but he was a country boy and he loved his family and the land too much to be anything but what he was. I hope he's with my father now and that they are both safe under Our Lady's veil. I hope they can hear the angels sing.



* I can still remember my poor mother's reaction when I anounced I'd just figured out who was black and who was white. Mama was so shocked she had to have a cup of tea.

St. Katherine Drexel

One of my favorie saints is St. Kaherine Drexel. She's a perfect example of what Jesus meant when He said that no man is a prophet in his own town. A friend of mine once told me that one of her grandmother's friends knew St. Katherine and didn't like her. What didn't she like? Well, according to the old biddy the saint was cheap... her shoe laces were often frayed. The old woman insisted that with St.Katherine's money she could've bought new ones every day instead of using them until they broke. St. Katherine built with her own money over 60 schools and churches for black and Indian Catholics. She built a college for black kids and courageously faced down the klan. She was a mighty woman for God and yet, some sour old gossip back at her old town found something catty to say.

Rejoice! Christ is risen!

Good Friday

Rocky and I took Good Friday off. We went to the Paschal Lamb bookstore in Fairfax and then we went to the Franciscan Monastery in DC for the Burial of Christ. It's a beautiful service and you can see the face of the Church there. Faithful from every continent were there. I saw nuns from the Sister Servants of the Lord, the Missionaries of Charity, Dominican Sisters, Franciscan nuns and other orders. Besides the Franciscan brothers, Dominican Brothers from the Dominican House of Studies came to the service and I was very moved to see the devout awestruck face of a Orthodox monk who came to visit. He looked exactly like this painting of St. Francis.

After the statue of Jesus is carried around the church it is placed on the a perfect replica of the Stone of Annointing that is in the Holy Seplechure and the homily is given. After the homily the statue is placed in the tomb, which is also a faithful replica of the one at the Holy Sepluchre. When the service is over the Faithful may kiss the stone and the cross which is laid against the door to the tomb. I can't even begin to tell you how bittersweet it is to kneel on the cool marble floor and lay my head on the stone. For a few seconds I am there in Jerusalem with Mary and St. John and brave Joseph of Aramathea and I adore and mourn. It's too powerful for mortal flesh to put into words.

If you're in DC for Good Friday to this service. You'll never forget it.

All right, I'll say it.

Pope Benedict has done more to recover the dignity and sense of reverence in the liturgy than John Paul, (may he rest in peace, I loved him but let's face it, Papa was not a disciplinarian), did in 2o+ years. That's why he is being persecuted. His enemies fear him as the Roman's feared Peter.

Holy Thursday at. St. Rita's

Rocky and I went to Mass at our parish. Fr. Frodo was the celebrant and I swear he glowed because he was so happy. Fr. Gandalf and Fr. Bear co-celebrated. I know some people think that the Faithful are cheated out of graces with cocelebration but I've always found it touching. All of our altar boys plus the one adult server were there and the boys got their feet washed. The man who trains our altar boys does a tremendous job year after year. They perform their duties admiralbly.

Fr. Frodo gave a homily so good I hope he puts it online. He expounded on the Communion of the saints and reminded us that in the Eucharist, past, present and future come together. Jesus smashes time constraints as He smashes death. After Mass the Blessed Sacrament was carried with great dignity and somberness to the altar of repose. The altar was more beautiful this year than in previous years and that's saying something. Rocky wanted to take a picture of the Repose altar but didn't want to disturb anybody so maybe next year. It made me sad to see so many middle aged people get up and walk past the altar without even a head nod to Christ but I guess that's how they were raised. After praying before the altar we watche the altar boys silently strip the main altar.

We then visited six more churches and prayed befor their alars of repose: St. Thomas More, Queen of Peace, which surpised me. Their altar was beautiful and tender, St. Charles Boromeo (dissapointing), St. John the Beloved, (very lovely and it was good to see the old priest, the young priest and the middle priest all praying there) St. Anne's (hideous) and St. Anthony's which had the largest crowd of adorers. Then we went home and slept.