Anniversary, Annunciation, Waiting, New Birth, New Book

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Gemma and our anniversary of reception into the Catholic Church 17 years ago. So many blessings! Deo gratias!!!

It's been the best Lent ever. On the Feast of the Annunciation, we were all in prayer awaiting the birth of Max and Laura's baby girl. After a long labor (starting on 24th evening), Laura delivered a beautiful baby girl in the wee hours of March 26th morning. All is well. Praise God! 

The new parents are home, getting adjusted to life with a newborn. We can't wait to make a trip to DC to snuggle this little one and take care of Max and Laura. It just so happens that this baby's birth coincided with an email from my editor--she sent me proofs of Shunya Means Zero. And I was able to dedicate it to both my grandkids before it went to the printer. Deo gratias! It's coming out this summer.  I can't wait to share it with my two little grandbabies, when they're not mouthing everything. I didn't give them Ten Easter Eggs...next year is a perfect time! And just you know folks, the Easter season lasts for 50 days so it's not too late if you want to buy a copy. 

Now for the reward to going through some shameless self-promotion. I'm attaching a few pictures for you to enjoy! I'm over the moon--to have two little grandbabies so close in age feels like an answer to my own prayers about having twins. Now all that God has to do is arrange for a job for Max down here in Charleston so we can all be together :)

The beginning of labor--March 24th. Max and Laura take a walk to speed things up. All the pain and struggle is worth it once they get to hold their precious little baby. They went for a short walk the day after the baby was born!

 
Laura's mother and sister were able to come for Easter--they sent these beautiful pictures. To gaze and gaze upon your baby is the closest thing that comes to Adoration of our Lord. 

We can't wait until our DC family can come to the wilds of SC. 

Happy Easter, all!!! He is Risen!!! Alleluia!!!

Happy Easter!

Easter Tuesday this year is the feast of St. Gemma and our 14th anniversary of reception into Church. We love celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord for 50 days! The Easter Vigil is one my most favorite liturgies as we recount salvation history and prophecies. We begin in the dark and as the Paschal Candle is lit, the light of Christ spreads throughout the sanctuary. Our deacon chants the Exultet so beautifully! Favorite bits:

O truly necessary sin of Adam,

destroyed completely by the Death of Christ!

O happy fault
that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!

The sanctifying power of this night
dispels wickedness, washes faults away,
restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to mourners,
drives out hatred, fosters concord, and brings down the mighty.

I always find it fascinating that although our Lord Jesus prepared his disciples for the horror of Good Friday, they forgot that He told them He would rise from the dead. They were astonished, confused to be at the empty tomb. Unbelievable, yet TRUE!

 

Our pastor spoke about what a strange religion it is, from God becoming a Baby, born of a Virgin Mother, who allows Himself to be tortured and put Himself to death, who rises, and gives a way to remain with us substantially--His Real Presence in the Eucharist. We celebrate this because it's TRUE!!! And if it's true, nothing else matters. Watching grown men and women make their desire known, to be part of the biggest family on earth, that of the Catholic Church, fills me with so much joy. They have taken the same journey we have--of questioning, of studying, of accepting by faith all the truths of the Catholic faith. Alleluia!!! A most blessed Eastertide to all. And if you have little ones, might I recommend Ten Easter Eggs by yours truly?

Pondering with Mary this Holy Saturday

Saturday is traditionally devoted to honoring our Lady. And I learned that it's because she alone kept the faith when all seemed lost--God is dead. Even though our Lord had prepared His Apostles and told them He would rise from the dead, it is such an incredulous thing, they didn't actually believe. There's a beautiful essay on this--perfect for pondering salvation history with our Mother Mary.

Easter Vigil is so powerful--I'm surprised that more people don't attend because you get to experience the darkness until the Paschal candle is lit and from it, the candles of the Altar servers, who share it with us in the pews, until candlelight spreads throughout the church. I love the Exultet and all the readings and psalms and the renewal of our baptismal promises and celebrating those who are received into the Church and who finally get to make their first Holy Communion. Christ Jesus is our Passover Lamb, whose Precious Body and Blood washes us clean of sin and guilt, restores lost innocence, brings us peace and heavenly joy. 

Behold, I make all things new! Rev. 21:5     

Twelve years ago, on our first anniversary of reception into the Church, Dagny and I were given the privilege of stripping the Altar after Maundy Thursday service. The Altar stone is Christ and I felt like one of the soldiers stripping our Lord. He'd been so horribly tortured during the scourging (Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ brought it to life in all its savage reality) that the garments adhered to His torn Flesh and in removing them roughly, some of His Skin came off. O Agony and Dying! O Love to sinners free! Jesus all grace supplying, O turn Thy Face on me...we sing in the Passion Chorale.  Until I read ART+FAITH by Makoto Fujimura, I hadn't considered that the only earthly thing Christ took with Him to the Cross was the aromatic nard that Mary of Bethany had so lovingly poured over Him. I have always loved this story that we read Monday of Holy Week and written a reflection on it a few years ago, but every year, it continues to help me grow in love.

Today is Pope Benedict XVI's 95th birthday! I love this man for his clear teaching. It so happens, that he was born and baptized on Holy Saturday. May God bless him and keep him and shine His Face upon him.   

I decided to try a bit of advertising in the Washington Review of Books, not that Ten Easter Eggs needs any help (it's sold over 100,000 copies) but my self-published titles do. Yes, I know--worldly aspirations. And so I pray: Lord Jesus, strip me of all things that do not belong to You. Make me love You above all things. Amen.

Pictures are from Max in DC; Palm Sunday at home; Dagny in Ave Maria. 

The Lamp, Lenten Feasts, and Admiration

We've had such a beautiful time with our church family for Laetare Sunday and the Feast of St. Joseph. We've entered Passiontide but as our pastor reminds us, Lent is 40 days but Eastertide is 50.  Might I suggest Ten Easter Eggs for the little ones in your family? I'm so delighted it's still in print. I wonder if total sales have exceeded 100,000. They were close to 90,000 in 2019 and I've not received a statement since.

Below is Michael's cousin--there's definitely a family resemblance though Michael cannot grow such an impressive beard (his brother can). I can't wait to see Max et. al. during Easter break and have a celebratory reading of his letter to the editor published in its entirety in The Lamp. I might be asking him for advice on publishing in Catholic magazines next. So proud of him. And he's so proud of his father, looking very cool posing next to his Alfa Romeo. Ah, those were the days of fast cars and our guardian angels working overtime. Deo gratias! 

It's definitely spring here with pollen everywhere. I took this picture from the porch where I was hanging out the wash and looking in to see Jules cuddling up to Michael. Such a sweetie. 

And today--Happy Feast of the Annunciation and the Feast of the Good Thief Dismas! Legend tells us that Good Friday occurred on Mar. 25th and I love its circularity (I wrote about it when it did happen in 2016) and this is what Ap. Fulton Sheen said about St. Dismas in Life of Christ: 

“A dying man asked a dying man for eternal life; a man without possessions asked a poor man for a Kingdom; a thief at the door of death asked to die like a thief and steal Paradise. One would have thought a saint would have been the first soul purchased over the counter of Calvary by the red coins of Redemption, but in the Divine plan it was a thief who was the escort of the King of kings into Paradise. If Our Lord had come merely as a teacher, the thief would never have asked for forgiveness. But since the thief's request touched the reason of His coming to earth, namely, to save souls, the thief heard the immediate answer: 'I promise thee, this day thou shalt be With Me in Paradise' (Luke 23:43) It was the thief's last prayer, perhaps even his first. He knocked once, sought once, asked once, dared everything, and found everything. When even the disciples were doubting and only one was present at the Cross, the thief owned and acknowledged Him as Saviour.”

The Longest Lent--Happy Easter

My joy won't be complete until we are free to go to church, assist at Mass. We tuned in to our parish Triduum services and I wept every time because I cannot be there. I love the Exultet (~ 9 min) at the Easter Vigil. It's compressed salvation history. Oh how I love Jesus, but He loved me first, into existence, and even when I'd turned my back to Him. He's a persistent lover, never giving up. It's exactly the 11th anniversary of our reception into the church! What a happy night that was, giving my husband and children back to Him, returning to Him with my whole heart, and becoming part of the biggest family. Today, a beautiful High Mass, the homily at around 23 min. And at the very end, some goofiness :) 

Father spoke about the disparity between what seems real and reality itself. The authorities and unbelievers remembered Jesus' words about rising from the dead so guards were posted so that His disciples might not steal His Body. But His disciples, all believers, came with spices to anoint a dead Body. Good Friday seemed like a terrible defeat, the end, yet it was Jesus's victory over death. He passed from death into life. He opened the gates of heaven. 

O Death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?

Jesus lives! He lives!!! And where He is, we hope to follow. There's a beautiful sermon from St. John Chrysostom on the Paschal Mystery--it's very poetic too :) 

This coronavirus has brought much fear and suffering and sorrow into people's lives. Even those of us who aren't sick miss the communities we're part of. I'm so glad our pastor mentioned that the online methods of connection "ain't the same." He mentioned a paper by Mary Stanford: Technology and the Language of Bodily Presence. We experience everything through the body--children need our hugs and kisses, our presence. So how wonderful to have this gift of time with our children. We've finally gotten into the habit of having a family rosary after supper. Believe me, we've tried before, but any and all attempts at family devotions have fallen apart after a couple of weeks. The resistance is tremendous. I've always been jealous of Catholic families who not only homeschool but do daily devotions and all without the parents yelling at their kids. We are so not there...even Michael and I draw swords at times. But we have the Holy Family itself, helping us on our journey. Deo gratias!

Have a very blessed and happy, hoppy Easter! 

Hoppy Easter!

Some of you probably know that I sign my book with a Hoppy Easter! If only I could draw cute bunnies, I would. I had a wonderful time at my reading and book-signing at Barnes & Nobles in Mt. Pleasant, Holy Sat. The police officers drew in the big crowd and I piggybacked after them. They're the BEST!

This beautiful weather (and my neighbor's pretty flowers) makes me hop and skip and the lingering sadness goes away for a while. It has been an unusually somber Easter for us with Notre Dame in flames on Monday of Holy Week and just a month prior, another fire at St. Sulpice. I subscribe to Catholic news agencies and GetReligion published an excellent piece on the increase in vandalism and desecrations of Catholic churches. Alas, he points out that it's not reported. Newsweek reports that officials do not know the reason why. Oh please! France is a secular state; they have turned their back on their Catholic heritage. And just as God used Israel's enemies to punish them for turning their backs to Him, unless we repent and return to our dear Lord Jesus, we too shall perish at the hands of our enemies. Arise, O sleeping Catholics! And come home to Holy Mother Church! When the French president spoke about rebuilding ND, I wondered, for what purpose if it isn't to worship in? As a convert, I feel the loss of faith very, very deeply. Where is the France of the Little Flower? Of Bernadette? Of Catherine Laboure? Of Rene Goupil? Of Joan of Arc? Wikipedia mentions 147 of them and these are just the ones who are known! Oh pray for us, all ye angels and saints! My own response is to pray, pray, pray unceasingly for conversions. And look at these beautiful gifts from the Holy Land from my sister to keep me focused!

After all the beautiful liturgies of the Sacred Triduum and Easter Masses, it was a shock to come home Sunday afternoon to the news of the bombings of Catholic churches and hotels in Sri Lanka. They were killed solely for their faith. I consider them martyrs and their blood will be the seed of the church's growth. Already the West has a declining population of religious--priests from Africa and Asia come here to evangelize. Fr. Dwight Longenecker has a good article about it. 

My mother always said we are an Easter people. Even at Christmas, she kept in mind why He was born. To suffer and die for us--the perfect Lamb; to save us all from our sins. And He will be with us until the end of time. He assured us of this on Holy Thursday when he gave us His own Body and Blood and instituted the priesthood. And so I share this beautiful motet with you: Ave Verum Corpus by Josquin, which we had the delight to sing! We only recently learned to sing the chant and although I love both the Byrd and Mozart versions, you can almost hear the chant in the Josquin. I hope we get to sing this again. 

We're having a wonderful Easter break, sleeping in daily, cooking, harvesting the first of our lettuce, reading, writing, watching movies. I pray you all have a very happy Eastertide!

  
 
Ah vanity, vanity! It makes me post these extra pictures :) It *is* a hoppy Easter!