The Anchoress
I have no idea how to do this or if it’s good, but it looks fun! I’d give it a shot if I could figure out how to use my new scanner! Anyone tried this yet? Read more
I have no idea how to do this or if it’s good, but it looks fun! I’d give it a shot if I could figure out how to use my new scanner! Anyone tried this yet? Read more
A truly terrific video I especially love the words of Archbishop Timothy Dolan, “This is a pure gift from God, and not an earned trophy. . .His grace lifts up our nature.” A simple-sounding yet profound mystery. And what he says about the priestly vocation is true for all of our vocations, including the vocation of marriage, the vocation of the single life, even the vocation of the “necessary other,” called to live in an altogether different way than most,... Read more
Two terrific “must read” stories, one at the start of a life, and the other at life’s culmination, bring to mind verse 2 of Psalm 131: Truly I have set my soul in silence and peace. A weaned child on its mother’s breast, even so is my soul. First up, consider the mother who saved her daughter’s life by cuddling her in anticipated death: When Carolyn Isbister put her 20oz baby on her chest for a cuddle, she thought that... Read more
We’ll be taking Buster back to school this weekend, and also Elder Son’s Sweet Girlfriend heads to grad school, so blogging will be light to non-existent. I may schedule a few “oldies” to go up over the weekend, so be sure to check back – and if you could offer up a prayer or two for safe travel in bad weather, I’d appreciate it! Read more
Nun News Network International Logo by reader Brian J It’s that time of year again, when seminaries, convents, friaries and some monastic houses are welcoming their newest entrants, and I love catching up with the news in all these orders. This only scratches the surface; lots of communities either don’t blog or don’t put news up on their websites. “We can hardly build fast enough to keep up with the growth of the community!” The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother... Read more
A reader emailed trying to find this intercessory prayer and I thought I’d repost it, for any interested, since these do seem like days in need of prayer, don’t they? It is a prayer of supplication for the good of others, and for ourselves, that I wrote while describing my prayer before the Blessed Sacrament: The prayer was long because where I could, I prayed everyone by name – but even if I could not do that, I still brought... Read more
That seems to be the question of the hour in my email, and thankfully, Deacon Greg has a helpful post on the subject: Because of its public nature the Church’s public intercession for a departed soul is more limited. A funeral Mass can be celebrated for most Catholics, but there are some specific cases in which canon law requires the denial of a funeral Mass. Canons 1184-1185 say: “Canon 1184 §1. Unless they gave some signs of repentance before death,... Read more
Edward Moore Kennedy, 1932-2009 My baby-hood crush on John Kennedy, and my little-girl admiration for Robert Kennedy had kept Ted Kennedy on my periphery. I use this photo because it is the flashing image I always get when I think of Ted, because it was my first real notice of him. I remember being 11 years old and watching Kennedy make a statement on television after the death of Mary Jo Kopechne. What seems vivid in my memory is something... Read more
A terrific spiel by Bill Whittle – a nice history lesson and forbidden logic to boot. It’s 13 minutes long. Don’t miss it. UPDATE: Don’t miss this: Another example of how narratives are maintained. But you know that’s one of my pet peeves, right – how the press reports on presidents with differing letters after their names? Although I don’t hear “the recession is over”, anymore. Do you? I don’t know how we’re supposed to believe in anything, trust anything... Read more
Did I happen to mention that things are absurdly busy around here? I’m having a great deal of difficulty keeping up. I want very much to respond to Rick, and his comments in this thread, and I also have other things I want to write, including a review of a terrific book you need to buy, but today is going to be “one of those days” – not least because I have an opportunity to go to Adoration this afternoon... Read more
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