The other day I was furious about the abuse survivor who was told not to show up at a “Healing our Church” meeting in the Diocese of Allentown. When I reached out to the diocese about this, they said it was because there were other programs for abuse survivors but this was for “the lay faithful of our parishes,” as if a victim can’t be a faithful lay person. My friends and I were disgusted at the idea that there had... Read more
Amicus meus osculi me tradidit signo: Quem osculatus fuero, ipse est, tenete eum: Hoc malum fecit signum, qui per osculum ad implevit homicidium. Infelix praetermisit pretium sanguinis, et in fine laquaeo se suspendit. Bonum erat illi, si natus non fuisset homo ille. Infelix praetermisit pretium sanguinis, et in fine laquaeo se suspendit. The sign by which my friend betrayed me was a kiss: “He whom I kiss, that is he: hold him fast.” He who committed murder by a... Read more
I want to open by mentioning that I asked one of my friends who was raped by a priest if she wanted to write this article for me as a guest post, and she asked me to write it instead. That’s why I’m presuming to talk about it. I’ve taken my own medicine. I’ve just been shown a sample chapter from a book called “Healing Our Church.” The author of this book doesn’t seem to be listed in the... Read more
There is incense in the mist. Resin fragrance stings, a seraphs’ fire cleansing throat and tongue for canticles but you are dumbstruck still. Golden needles mute your tread. Stand upon the roots and look if you can bear the sight. The pillar goes up up The boughs, a staircase to the firmament a spiral like the chambers in a shell. Steady now. Before you fall, Lean on the trunk. Now you are anointed with holy chrism and never shall the... Read more
I really needed a new coat. I’d had the same black one for about four years. I don’t like black; I love color and I’m fascinated with combining colors that match well and flatter people, and black doesn’t flatter me at all. But it was a good, warm, serviceable coat my grandmother gave me for a Christmas present, and I wore it until it literally fell apart. In mid-January, in Wal Mart, when we were finishing up our grocery shopping,... Read more
Hi friends, I need your help. I have a friend who’s in a very tough spot. He is, like most Americans, living from month to month. His wife is in bad health, on insulin; he has small children at home. He lives in Northern Appalachia like I do, and opportunities are not plentiful here. Like most Americans, he was a living on a knife edge a hairbreadth from financial disaster, when disaster caught up with him. He got fired,... Read more
I have a friend who lives in rural Mexico. We don’t get to talk often because the wifi isn’t good there. Nothing is terribly good there. Scorpions keep getting into the house because there’s no front door. You have to bribe teachers so your child won’t be abused in school. The priest expects to be paid to say Mass, so there isn’t one weekly. There’s not too much to eat. Just this week, my friend sent me a bit... Read more
The warmth is coming back. Today we had the windows open for a bit after noon. The sun is slowly bringing life back. It’s at times like these that I want to go to the mountains– not the bare, dirty, rust-stained cliffs of the Ohio Valley but deep in the mountains where things are alive. I used to visit the mountains in Pocahontas County every summer as a girl. It was only for one week a year, and I’ve lived... Read more
Up until today, I didn’t know you could get statues of Baphomet at Wal Mart. I was informed of this by a puzzling article by Patti Armstrong in the National Catholic Register. Armstrong has interviewed an anonymous source claiming to be an exorcist about the danger of all the Satanic paraphernalia for sale at your local Wal Mart Supercenter. She writes: “The products include demonic sculptures and figures; satanic pornography that blasphemes Christ’s crucifixion; numerous products and jewelry with... Read more
Hi everyone, I am working on this evening’s regular post right now; this is just the standard periodic reminder that Steel Magnificat, and my family, are funded almost entirely by tips. I am so often home-bound from my chronic illness that my husband is a full-time homemaker and takes care of our daughter; I support the family here at Patheos, writing three to seven literary art projects per week. I get a very small monthly check from Patheos based on... Read more
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