(Image via Pixabay) As some of you might have guessed I am little conflicted about writing in response to the news- sometimes I do, other weeks I fall silent. I haven’t necessarily settled that I like writing about news, but by now regular readers will know what all my friends have already learned to their sorrow – I don’t know how to shut up if I think something needs saying (or even might be worth saying). In this instance I... Read more
(Image via Pixabay) Chase Padusniak over at Jappers and Janglers has just written an awesome introduction to a desert father and saint about whom I had previously known nothing, Abba Moses the Strong. As a teaser here is an anecdote of the saint’s witness and teaching that Chase has included in his account: A certain brother committed an offence in Scete, the camp of the monks, and when a congregation was assembled on this matter, they sent after Abba Moses,... Read more
(image via Pixabay) I have a terrible confession to make. I don’t really like reading picture books aloud to children. I suppose I’m not being honest. I do enjoy reading picture books under the right circumstances, to certain types of children. If a child wants to sit quietly with rapt attention while I read a book I truly enjoy aloud in my most dramatic voice, I would like that. But this never happens in real life. In real life, my daughter gets fixated on a... Read more
(image via Pixabay) We’ve established, by now, that I had a weird childhood. Most people do. I think if we took an honest and empathetic look at the traumas and strangeness surrounding any given childhood, at any time in history, we would wonder that any adults are able to function as adults. Or perhaps we would just understand why so many adults don’t. In any case, my brand of weirdness started with run-of-the-mill scrupulous Catholicism; then we migrated to the... Read more
(image via Pixabay) …And I’ve been seeing memes asking just that question all week, with photos of cheerful nuns in full habit frolicking on beaches, so I know it’s on everybody’s mind… …it does. The Catholic Herald just reported that the deputy mayor of Nice, France, stated that nuns aren’t allowed on the beach, either. People are welcome on the beaches of Nice, France, wearing bathing suits and nothing else. A public expression of religion is considered a “provocation” in... Read more
(Image via Wikimedia Commons.) When it comes to moral, political, and religious controversy, I am not the sort to rush to the fray. I have as many strong opinions on these things as most people I guess, but I highly value being able to enjoy friendship and camaraderie with a variety of people representing sometimes very different views. I would just as soon maintain the peace most of the time, so I choose my battles very carefully. That said, as... Read more
(image via Pixabay) We’ve already established by now that I am the only critic on the whole of the internet who liked the re-make of Ben-Hur. Even I admitted that it was cheesy as all get out, but I still liked it. And I stand by that. I like a good cheesy film now and then. Cheese is good for you. Taken alone, it’s constipating, but in combination with other foods? Cheese is great. Nobody appreciates a good cinema cheese... Read more
(image via Pixabay) Steel Magnificat offers our prayers and condolences for the victims of the Italian earthquake early this morning. Padre nostro che sei nei cieli, sia santificato il tuo nome; venga il tuo regno, sia fatta la tua volontà, come in cielo così in terra. Dacci oggi il nostro pane quotidiano, rimetti a noi i nostri debiti, come noi li rimettiamo ai nostri debitori e non ci indurre in tentazione, ma liberaci dal male.Amen. Saints Catherine of Siena and... Read more
It is strange, how becoming a grown-up and a mother changes your perspective. When I was a little girl, I liked The Tale of Peter Rabbit. We had a videocassette of a woman with an extremely affected English accent reading it aloud, to a montage of original illustrations, and I enjoyed it. My heart went up into my throat every time I watched Peter come round the corner and encounter Mr. McGregor. I hated Mr. McGregor; I thought he was a... Read more
(Image via Pixabay) This post is a part of the Patheos Catholic Channel series, “Catholicity: Identity and Its Discontents.” Steel Magnificat both cordially invites and heartily encourages our readers to read more here. Regular readers will know that the more alarmist elements of the public face of Catholicism have recently caught my eye. I am going to go a little further today and seek to identify the common theme to all the diverse forms of catholic alarmism. Also, I am advocating that... Read more
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