At the time of our Visitation it was two O’clock in the morning, the night after the Carmelite feast of Holy Father Saint Elijah. As on most feast days, I’d been too sick to pray the Divine Office; now that it was night, I was wide awake, worrying. My husband Michael was downstairs, reading. Our daughter was asleep. The windows were open, because it was hot and we couldn’t afford air conditioners. All was quiet as the tomb. Then I heard a… Read more
As a Child Rests
April 1, 2016 By Mary Pezzulo 0 Comments
I will never become a grown-up, because I don’t like hot drinks. When I was a little girl, I tried to drink hot chocolate after coming in from the snow, but it burned my tongue every time. I let it cool down and then drank it, but it was neither warm nor comforting; regular chocolate milk was much nicer. Along with every child my age, I watched the BBC’s dramatization of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe when… Read more
Mother of Sorrows, Cause of Our Joy
March 30, 2016 By Mary Pezzulo 0 Comments
I don’t know where to begin. I had resolved, when first I began to blog, not to mention the belligerent yam or any other presidential candidate. But now I find he’s suggesting that post-abortive women should be punished for their abortions, which will, mark my words, only lead to even more suffering for women who miscarry. And I find it’s almost April First, so waggish young couples are going to make joke announcements about fake pregnancies. Also, a total stranger… Read more
Even the Dinosaurs Cry in Anguish
March 29, 2016 By Mary Pezzulo 0 Comments
My husband is a devout bibliophile who has collected books his whole life; he still owns many of his beloved children’s picture books from the early 80s, and they have been passed on to my four-year-old daughter, Rose. Her favorite books to be read aloud are her father’s collection of joyless and cynical dinosaur stories. This is a collection of about twenty stout, colorful, lavishly illustrated hardcover books, each telling the story of a day in the life of a… Read more
The Mercy of God is a Diamond in the Dark
March 28, 2016 By Mary Pezzulo 0 Comments
I am a city child, but once a year my family used to visit a state park deep in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, and it was there that I learned everything I know about Divine Mercy. Once, I hiked the Anne Bailey Lookout Trail with my great uncle who had hiked it many times. It’s five miles, gradually up a mountain and into a patch of tasty huckleberries; then to the lookout post where you can see for… Read more
Daybreak: the Terror of Easter Sunday
March 25, 2016 By Mary Pezzulo 0 Comments
In the moments before the first light of dawn, darkness seems eternal. So it was on the morning of the First Day of the Week. It was over. Over forever. Man had killed God. Christ walked among us and we knew Him not– or perhaps we did know, and were afraid. But whatever He meant to do, He could not do it now, could He? He was dead. His mother wept, his disciples fled; He Himself declared that He had… Read more
A Praise for Holy Saturday
March 25, 2016 By Michael Pezzulo 0 Comments
Truly great are You, Lord Jesus Christ. Mighty are You- so mighty that you need not show strength. Indeed, You are strong enough that you have dared to bear even weakness, and the greatest weakness: the cross. But was it in fact your cross? Was it not our cross, our weakness – our inability to be strong, to triumph over sin and even death? That, and our inability to bear up to our own inability and to stand before… Read more
This I Know: A Parable for Good Friday
March 24, 2016 By Mary Pezzulo 0 Comments
I hope that, whatever else you do with your life, you one day take a toddler on an outdoor Way of the Cross. I hope that you take them on one that involves stairs, and trees, and mud on the path. The best time to take them is today, particularly if today is inconvenient. Then you might come to understand. When you take a toddler on an outdoor walking Way of the Cross, you will begin by thinking… Read more
Parable of the Beech Tree
March 23, 2016 By Mary Pezzulo 0 Comments
In Union Cemetery, there are many old trees with great character. There are straight-backed pines that make me dizzy if I stand on the roots and look up. There are irascible cedars that prickle me as I walk past. There are oaks that drop the noisiest acorns, so my feet crackle irreverently if I pass too close. There are groves of Hemlocks that drop a carpet of needles and shade the ground all day long– you could dig your… Read more
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