No, Dr. Marshall, Gingerbread is not Effeminate

Last updated on: December 8, 2018 at 11:39 pm By Mary Pezzulo

On today’s episode of What Public Catholics are Angry About Now: Dr. Taylor Marshall is angry about gingerbread houses. Specifically, he’s angry that a seminarian would participate in a gingerbread house decorating competition. He tweeted as much just now: “How Fabulouth!” says Marshall. ” These seminarians had a gingerbread house making contest and Corey won. This is effeminate and puerile, and it’s why some Seminaries are horrific. Grown men don’t gather to decorate gingerbread. (Can you imagine Basil and Gregory... Read more

No, Pregnancy is Not a Sin

Last updated on: December 5, 2018 at 2:12 am By Mary Pezzulo

“Thou hast committed fornication; but that was in another country; and besides, the wench is dead.” –Kit Marlowe I give you the above quote only because it has the word “fornication” in it, and because I always like a touch of artistry in my posts. There’s not much artistry to be had today. I need to be rather dull and explain something about Latin Catholic teaching to Latin Catholics who ought to know better. I apologize if my readers... Read more

An Urgent Opportunity to Help Feed the Hungry

Last updated on: December 3, 2018 at 1:26 pm By Mary Pezzulo

You’re in luck! It’s the first Monday of Advent and God’s given us a wonderful opportunity to show Him hospitality today. This morning, Christ appeals to us in the disguise of an immigrant with nothing at all to eat. My friends are raising money for several asylum-seeking families in Maryland. These people are not here illegally (not that that should matter to a Christian when a human being needs food anyway), they are legally living in Maryland while they... Read more

In Infamy

Last updated on: December 2, 2018 at 4:52 pm By Mary Pezzulo

I’m going to teach my first-grader about World War Two. We’re listening to Tomie DePaola’s excellent 26 Fairmount Avenue series, and we’re just beginning the first book about the “war years.” That’s a good place to start. I decided to make it into a homeschooling unit study that will look nice on her portfolio this summer. I’m also going to read her the Molly McIntire American Girl books and possibly Lowry’s haunting Number the Stars. We’ve begun to watch classic... Read more

Your Redemption is at Hand

Last updated on: December 1, 2018 at 11:21 pm By Mary Pezzulo

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke: Jesus said to his disciples: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud... Read more

A Visit With Colonial History

Last updated on: December 1, 2018 at 1:48 am By Mary Pezzulo

Rosie and I went down to the Nutcracker Village and Advent Market, which was great fun, and I’ll write a lighthearted post about that fun later. Toward the end of our trip, though, I found myself sad. This year, the historic Federal Land Office is open to the public free of charge during the hours that the Advent Market is open in the Nutcracker Village. I’d never seen it before. It’s a tiny log cabin on the grounds of Fort... Read more

What are you Doing for Advent?

Last updated on: November 30, 2018 at 2:32 pm By Mary Pezzulo

The glorious season of advent is almost here! What are you going to do to prepare your hearts for Christmas? The absolute best advice I’ve heard so far has come from a couple of comments on a thread on the Unvirtuous Abbey facebook page. Instead of being That Christian who gets offended when shop clerks don’t say “Merry Christmas,” even though it’s not the Christmas season for us until actual Christmas, it was suggested that we ought to all... Read more

The Journey of the Unwise Magi

Last updated on: November 29, 2018 at 10:55 pm By Mary Pezzulo

The Friendship Room posts their needs online almost daily. They recently asked if anyone could bring them powdered coffee creamer. I had powdered coffee creamer, unopened, that I didn’t need just then, and I hadn’t had a holy hour in the Adoration chapel that stands next door to the Friendship Room in a long time. I packed the creamer in a bag, and walked two blocks to Oregon and Woodlawn to wait for the next bus. The bus did... Read more

It’s Giving Tuesday. Have You Tipped Your Blogger Yet?

Last updated on: November 27, 2018 at 8:07 pm By Mary Pezzulo

This post is not a real post, this is only your periodic reminder that Steel Magnificat, and my family, are almost entirely run on gratuities. I work from home as a writer due to my chronic illness, churning out three to seven literary art projects per week here, my husband copyedits for me, and he’s also the homemaker who takes care of Rosie and does the housework since I’m so often too sick to get off the sofa or... Read more

Migrants, Conspiracies and a Facebook Racist

Last updated on: November 28, 2018 at 5:04 am By Mary Pezzulo

I met a racist, as one sometimes does, on my facebook wall. He commented on one of my few public posts with an alarming screed: That’s right. He wants a “company of snipers” to shoot at the refugees on our nation’s Southern border because they are secretly communists. He wants snipers to fire bullets rather than tear gas cannisters, to ‘disable” civilians armed only with rocks. When I expressed my horror at this, he claimed I had it all wrong;... Read more