I sat in the pew by myself. Rose had asked permission to stand in the foyer, which is easier for her fidgety six-year-old self to manage for an hour, and Michael stood with her. We all miss our Eastern liturgies with all our hearts, but Christ is Christ. This was Sunday, not even 24 hours after the release of the Vigano testament. Last week the older priest passed out printed copies of the letter from the bishop addressing the... Read more
I am glad that everyone finally believes in sexual abuse. This is a new development, you know. When the #metoo movement began last year, certain people who claimed to be very devout “traditional” Catholics didn’t believe us. They wrote off the victims as immodest and asking for it. They claimed that modesty and chastity were somehow magical talismans that would cause men to treat women with respect. They worried that a man might have his reputation ruined if anybody... Read more
Hello friends, this post is 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 out of the house.... Read more
It is a terrible thing to gaze at the icons in a darkened room, and think that they must be nothing but painted wood. That’s where I was yesterday evening. I was, if possible, even more burnt out than when I went to Mass on Assumption Day. The people who chided me for my lack of faith then would have probably thrown tomatoes if they’d had the miserable task of praying with me last night, in the icon corner... Read more
I have a few words to say on the breaking news about Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s testimony on Pope Francis. First, I want to remind everyone that I am not a journalist and this is not a newspaper; I’m a blogger expressing my own opinions and fancies and Patheos doesn’t find out what I’m going to say until I say it. I strive to be as accurate as I can be and I strive to correct my own mistakes quickly. For... Read more
After Rose was born, we were a mess. My abusive disaster birth left me even more shattered and exhausted than childbirth usually does to women. It left Rose in the nursery overnight under observation with a high white blood cell count; I wasn’t allowed to visit or nurse her until morning. In the morning, we had to hold her down to get her heel pricked for another test, which is surprisingly difficult for an eight-pound infant. She fidgeted at the... Read more
Today, on Twitter, the Diocese of Arlington posted an extremely optimistic tweet, which led to a strange dialogue. The dialogue was full of guarded, qualified, slippery statements which have me extremely concerned. I am going to post screengrabs of the tweets and then transcripts underneath for anyone who can’t see them clearly. The diocese started off with “We are committed to protecting our children. And you should know that there is no priest and will never be such a priest... Read more
I went to Adoration yesterday. I didn’t feel like praying, but I needed the quiet. I needed to look at Him and ask what He meant by all of this. My faith has been reeling for a week, of course– for years, if I’m honest. Steubenville has never been the best place to live, if you want to maintain your belief that Christ is real. Apparently Pennsylvania is worse, and I have no reason to believe that there isn’t enough... Read more
Father Dwight Longenecker is at it again. He has written an extremely uncharitable and smug article wherein he quotes Father James Martin, refuses to understand what he’s saying, supplies a straw man substitution, and lectures celibate men on celibacy. It has to be read to be believed. Longenecker is cross that Father Martin wants people to recognize that there are “good, celibate gay priests” who ought not to be scapegoated for sexual abuse. He doesn’t actually try to find out... Read more
All things considered, it has been a hell of a weak. I’m not swearing there; I’m actually saying the week has been a week that felt like one of the outer circles of hell. The news of the horrific clerical abuses in the state of Pennsylvania hit on the same day we had to call the police on the neighbor I’ve referred to as “Miss Manners” once again– I was, in fact, drafting the post about the abuse when I... Read more
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