This image is one of my favorite paintings of the Virgin Mary. Please, just admire it for a moment before we get into an art history lecture. I love her expression, the gracefulness of her pose, the sumptuous Renaissance dress, the solemn or bored angels, the sweetness of that chubby Baby Jesus. I like to imagine Our Lady looking just like this sometimes when I pray to her. This painting is the “Magnificat Madonna,” by Sandro Botticelli, painted in 1481.... Read more
I remember a wonderful painting teacher I had one summer at Franciscan University, the year I was pregnant with Rose. He was originally from China. He once smiled blissfully when someone wanted to paint a dragon and a phoenix. He waxed eloquent about Chinese symbolism of the male and female, the significance of the red wedding gown, and the delicious symbolic food served at a Chinese wedding party. Then the subject turned to Kwan Yin, the Chinese goddess... Read more
It’s time once again for the most embarrassing part of blogging, the monthly awkward moment where I pass the hat and remind everyone that blogging is just online busking. I try to write just one of these per month except for emergencies. This month, it’s a bit more urgent. As my veteran readers know, I blog here at Patheos because I think what I’m writing needs to be written. I think it’s extremely important to hold public figures in... Read more
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke: Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While... Read more
Last night on Twitter, I had an interesting insight into what your standard Catholic and Orthodox traditionalist wants out of life. A gentleman called “Man with a Purpose” wrote: “Medieval Peasants: 1. Worked less hours than you. 2. Had longer vacations. 3. Had more sex. 4. Likely had a bigger house. 5. Definitely had higher T. 6. Ate better food than you. 7. Paid less taxes 8. Rarely saw his boss 9. Had crazy harvest festivals 10. Never heard of... Read more
It started with the pixie cut. Rosie climbed up on the bathroom sink and cut her hair into a classic Dame Judi Dench pixie cut a few days after her birthday– and she did a tidier job of it than I’ve ever been able to do, when I trimmed her bowl cut. I gave her a lecture about not taking scissors to any body part without asking me first, but I didn’t object to the haircut. It suits her.... Read more
Yet again, I thought we were done talking about corruption in the pro-life movement for awhile. I have tried to praise innovative pro-life charities doing admirable things, like New Wave Feminists, the Family Life Campaign and Rehumanize International, whenever I can, but I always find myself writing about the old, mainstream pro-life movement’s many train wrecks as I go along. Today I have to talk yet again about the granddaddy of the mainstream pro-life movement, Father Frank Pavone. You may... Read more
On Facebook tonight, my friend the Benedictine monk Father Stephanos Pedrano was attacked by a woman named Kamilla Ludwig, who told some horrendous lies about him. The lies seem to have been occasioned by Abby Johnson’s libel of Father Pedrano last week. Ms. Ludwig has blocked me for some reason, so I can’t see where this happened. But I have friends who sent me links to two places and took screengrabs: This is a lie. Father Pedrano is not a... Read more
I don’t usually pay attention to Matt Walsh, because he irritates me. But sometimes while I’m scrolling around on Twitter, I see my friends responding to him and take a look. I am always sorry that I did so afterwards. Today is one of those days. Walsh’s enlightened opinion for Columbus Day was: “The Aztecs would literally rip the beating heart out of your chest, cut you into pieces, eat your limbs, then take your children as slaves. Columbus was... Read more
I was pleased to see that the whole-life social justice pro-life organization Rehumanize International had shared an article today, critiquing Columbus Day and calling for a celebration of indigenous peoples to take its place. I’m glad that once again this month, they’ve been trying to take a stand against the racism lurking in the pro-life movement. We desperately need people to do that. I am sorry that I looked at the subsequent comment thread. We just got through two weeks... Read more
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