2016-09-30T16:00:03-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:00 pm   By

IN PHILIPPINE MYTHOLOGY, there is a monster known as a “manananggal.” A fearsome creature, the manananggal is a beautiful older woman who preys on unsuspecting pregnant women in their homes.  The vampire-like manananggal destroys the developing fetus in the womb, killing it by sucking the child’s heart. The myth is full of weirdness:  The manananggal splits into two—and while her lower torso remains behind, the upper torso, aided by huge, bat-like wings, flies off into the night, seeking an unsuspecting... Read more

2016-09-30T16:00:03-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:00 pm   By

WHAT DO THESE PEOPLE HAVE IN COMMON? Actors John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Jim Nabors, Faye Dunaway, Vincent Price, Susan Hayward and Patricia Neal Academics and intellectuals Hadley Arkes (Amherst), Mortimer Adler (Great Books), Robert Bork (Yale), G.K. Chesterton Royalty King Charles II ( Great Britain ) Artist Peter Paul Rubens Heroes of the Old West Kit Carson, Buffalo Bill and Doc Holliday Musician Dave Brubeck Politicians John Ellis (Jeb) Bush and Newt Gingrich Famed coach Knute Rockne (Notre Dame) Playwrights... Read more

2016-09-30T16:00:03-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:00 pm   By

On May 3, 2003, sometime between midnight and 2:00 a.m., the Old Man of the Mountain collapsed. If you are from the Northeast, you know I’m not talking about a crusty old prospector who fished the clear rivers and survived on hardtack and moonshine in his mountain shack.  No—the Old Man of the Mountain was a series of five granite cliff ledges on Cannon Mountain in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  When viewed from the north, the ledges appeared... Read more

2016-09-30T16:00:03-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:00 pm   By

Was it only a year ago?  We were there, some of us, gathered for the Vatican Blogfest.  Elizabeth Scalia, Katrina Fernandez, Rocco Palmo, Thomas Peters, and so many others…. brought together for the first time half a world away.  I was thinking, though, about the Beatification of Pope John Paul II, and what a prayerful and an emotional day it was.  Back at my old blog, I carried a photo montage showing the crowds cheering, the cardinals strolling through the... Read more

2016-09-30T16:00:04-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:00 pm   By

The year was 2003 and we were motoring through the French countryside, visiting wineries and restaurants and cathedrals and churches.  A Dominican priest served as spiritual director for our pilgrimage. At one of the most beautiful basilicas (I think it was in Bordeaux), we stopped to pray at a side altar, in the left transept of the church.  Over the altar hung a remarkable painting of the Crucifixion; but Jesus’arms were not outstretched on the Cross, as He is usually... Read more

2016-09-30T16:00:04-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:00 pm   By

White elephant (n.) an idiom for a valuable possession of which its owner cannot dispose, and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth. *   *   *   * Did you ever receive a “white elephant” as a gift? Maybe it was a lamp or bric-a-brac given by a beloved aunt.  You would never intentionally hurt her feelings, but what in the world, you wonder, will you do with this? Perhaps Pope Leo X felt the... Read more

2016-09-30T16:00:04-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:00 pm   By

The Easter Bunny reads the Prayers of the Faithful. I guess I should thank the Catholic Church Conservation blog for making me aware of this preposterous liturgical abuse.  It’s hard to watch, though!  Lord have mercy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7P9qrQpEBu0#! Read more

2016-09-30T16:00:04-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:00 pm   By

Lately I have been seen chuckling in airports, making a spectacle of myself as I struggle to suppress my mirth and my tears. That’s because I have been reading Bob Dolan’s heartwarming and humorous new book, LIFE LESSONS from my Life with my Brother, Timothy Cardinal Dolan (Tau Publishing, 2011). And Cardinal Dolan’s little brother is not afraid to spill some of the family secrets. He opens with an anecdote about the time 15-year-old Tim babysat for 8-year-old Bob while... Read more

2016-09-30T16:00:04-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:00 pm   By

Elizabeth Scalia posted a beautiful picture of Our Lady of Good Counsel on her blog today. The Anchoress asks for our prayers during a particularly busy time—and I hope you’ll join me in praying for her health and wellbeing, her effective completion of ongoing projects, and her peace of mind. Since this is the feast day of Our Lady of Good Counsel, I thought I’d show you my own photo. My Tapestry of Our Lady of Good Counsel My version... Read more

2016-09-30T16:00:04-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:00 pm   By

Inspired by the “CO-EXIST” photo picked up by Tito Edwards (thepulp.it), I thought I’d repost an article  which was first published about a year ago.  I liked it then– still do! Can’t we all just get along? Do you remember Rodney King? He was the African-American who was beaten by Los Angeles police officers after a traffic arrest in 1991. The beating, which was caught on videotape by a bystander—and the subsequent acquittal of the officers involved—enraged the black community... Read more

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