The Heart of Mary, by Sheldon Vanauken (1914-1996). Dear sister, I was not divine, The angel left me woman as before, And when, like flame beneath my heart, I bore The Son, I was vestal and the shrine. My arms held Heaven at my breast—not wine But milk made blood, in which no mothering doubt Prefigured patterns of the pouring out, O Lamb! to stain the world incarnadine. The Magi saw a crown that lay ahead, But not the bitter... Read more
And just in the nick of time. They were headed for a lee shore, or so it seemed back in February. That is when Sister Carol Keehan had backed the Administrations “Accommodation,” standing side by side with Vice-President Joe Biden making her announcement to that effect. But it appears that she, and the group of hospitals she leads, has had a change of heart. Prayers are being answered! (more…) Read more
Pretty soon, the Supreme Court will hand down their verdict on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. This decision, and how it affects the HHS Mandate, has been discussed early, and often, in this space. Something that hasn’t been discussed here much is that other religions have lined up against the mandate as well. Not that you would have seen this reported in the mainstream media outlets. (more…) Read more
The Beckett Fund has a handy graphic. H/T Women Speak for Themselves. It’s sort of like a shell game, with three walnut shells and a pea. (more…) Read more
She’s spot-on the phony “War on Women” too. Here’s what she said a few weeks back in an article from the Washington Times shortly after the stealth lawsuits were launched, The controversy swirling around the mandate from the Department of Health and Human Services, which forces religious institutions to provide insurance coverage for contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-causing drugs for their employees, escalated this past week. This time, it’s the good guys on the offensive. (more…) Read more
There have been scads of opportunities for the current Administration to smooth over the concerns of folks regarding their moves athwart the First Amendment of late. Regarding rights of conscience, and religious liberty, in particular, though they try to argue that all is well, folks just aren’t buying it. The reason is pretty simple. (more…) Read more
Everyone knows how easy it is in the age of the internet to cobble together a saying that meshes with the popular mood of the times, and then attribute it to a giant of philosophy, art, or politics. Often times these alleged quotes seem too good to be true. And after a little cursory check, you know, actually looking for a reference that verifies said quote, you come up empty, and toss it in the trash. This practice is so... Read more
Father Claude Dusty Burns with a little ditty on the compatibility of faith and reason. Help make it go viral! (more…) Read more
One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Good advice, that. I wonder what sort of blogger Goethe would have made? He and I are like minded this morning, because there has been a song playing in my head, I just read something that I want to share with you, and I love... Read more
The photograph above was taken by Frank Scherschel for Life Magazine, after D-Day. From today’s issue commemorating the landing, the editors at Life share the following, It’s no mystery why images of unremitting violence spring to mind when one hears the deceptively simple term, “D-Day.” We’ve all seen — in photos, movies, old news reels — what happened on the beaches of Normandy (codenamed Omaha, Utah, Juno, Gold and Sword) as the Allies unleashed an historic assault against German defenses... Read more
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