I believe in doing what I can Crying when I must, laughing when I choose Hi, ho, if love were all I would be lonely . . . ~ Noel Coward, “If Love Were All” Happy (Demoted) Feast of (One of Several Possible) St Valentine(s)! Today Americans take a break from vilifying the medieval anti-love Catholic Church to celebrate love with a medieval Catholic custom. The saint for whom this day and the mushy cards, candy hearts, and chocolate diamond... Read more

I was watching (and falling asleep during, after a working weekend) Downton Abbey, so I missed Nicki Minaj’s Grammy performance last night. This morning the Catholic blogosphere is alight with outrage, and letter-writing campaigns have been organized. Anti-Catholic bias in the media! is the outcry. Nuh-uh, says I. And I’m an expert. In another lifetime, I served on the national Communications Committee of the US Catholic Bishops. We laypeople advised the episcopal members of the Committee on policy issues, and... Read more

Go to her, you who are crushed by material misery, defenseless against the hardships of life and the indifference of men. Go to her, you who are assailed by sorrows and moral trials. Go to her, beloved invalids and infirm, you who are sincerely welcomed and honored at Lourdes as the suffering members of our Lord. Go to her and receive peace of heart, strength for your daily duties, joy for the sacrifice you offer. ~ La Pelerinage de Lourdes, Pius... Read more

While he was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and blessed are the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” (Luke 11:27-28) Wombs. They’re all over the news cycle lately. What’s in them or not in them, and how to keep it that way. To whom they belong. Whither they’ve gone a-wandering. Uteri and... Read more

Even the sparrow has found a home, the swallow a nest to place its young: your altars, Yahweh Sabaoth, my King and my God. How blessed are those who live in your house; they shall praise you continually. Blessed those who find their strength in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. Better one day in your courts than a thousand at my own devices, to stand on the threshold of God’s house than to live in the tents of... Read more

Through the intercession of Saint Blase, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness. The blessing of throats on today’s Feast of St Blase is, like me, a revert to Catholicism, a childhood custom now wandering back into the Church after a time away. And am I ever delighted. The tradition of having throats blessed by touching them with two candles (themselves blessed yesterday, on Candlemas) joined to form a... Read more

If Candlemas day be dry and fair The half of winter’s to come, and mair If Candlemas day be wet and foul The half of winter’s gane at Yule If the Scots rhyme and the Punxsutawney woodchuck are correct, southern Ohio’s in for it. We’re dry and fair and sunny today on this last day of the Renaissance Christmas season (attention, people of Ohio, this means you can finally take your Christmas decorations down!), so it’s harder to appreciate the... Read more

Important updates to a continuing story. At the Patheos Catholic Portal, Sr Mary Ann Walsh, Media Secretary for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, lays out the legal case. Deacon Greg Kandra picks up a New York Times piece on the implications of the ruling for Catholic colleges. A post from Look in the Mirror shares a patriot’s sense of betrayal and includes a good roundup of reactions to the ruling from Church leaders. At Why I Am Catholic, Frank Weathers dares you to put your name... Read more