Faith, Friendship, and Finding Flannery

Happy St. Patrick's Day! What a joy for me to spend these past couple of weeks with three pilgrims from the North who wanted to see the place where Flannery O'Connor penned her unforgettable short stories, wrote letters, tended her peacocks, and lived a life she didn't dream of, but lived it to the fullest.

 
I'm still not caught up on the Catholic conference online, but decided to watch Roxane's presentation on Seasons in a Writer's Life, given I've entered a new chapter in my own life (I'm again on babytime :) When I learned that she had a book about Finding Flannery, I had to know who else was so affected by her life and stories to make a literary pilgrimage like we did for our 25th wedding anniversary (Michael and I had made a pilgrimage to Savannah and Milledgeville, the places Flannery spent the first and last thirteen years of her life respectively).

Reading FF as one who's already familiar with her life and stories brought back memories. It was the feeling of finding instant friends. You too?!!! The three writers--Christina Brajkovich, Karen Anne Mahoney, and Roxane B. Salonen--met through a Catholic writing group and planned this trip. Each woman was in a different stage in her life, yet they each felt a connection. As a transplant to the South, I knew they were in for a shock, because we have a different sensibility here (when we moved here 15 years ago, I knew immediately I was home). I'm surprised they didn't come across any "bless your heart" comments :)

I have to admit that in the opening chapters, the need to overexplain the connection to Flannery was annoying. It was obvious. But I realized that for a person who didn't know Flannery's life or stories, it was a wonderful introduction. That it would pique the reader's interest and also give some context. I remember not knowing anything about Flannery until a critique partner compared one of my stories--Driving Lessons--to hers. Btw, it won first prize in a writing contest, but I've never been able to find a publisher for it. My story is tame compared to anything Flannery wrote! Her stories disturbed me, probably because she was holding up a mirror to myself with her unlikeable characters. But I digress...

I loved the cover art as well as the interior. The three writers each chose a bird to represent themselves as they reflected on their journey and Flannery. It took them ten years to write this book and in that decade they experienced many changes in their own lives. I really appreciated how honest they were sharing their own joys and sorrows throughout this period, and their ability to see the grace of God in all things, which is what Flannery is so good at conveying. They felt her guidance from heaven. She might not be a canonized saint yet...but those of us who know and love her, we pray for her intercession, even as we pray for the repose of her soul. Why do people make a pilgrimage? Read this unusual travel memoir and you will understand. I highly recommend this book for those who know and love Flannery and those who have yet to know her life and work.

I'm so delighted to have this book--many thanks to Enroute for providing a review copy--and looking forward to meeting Roxane in Chicago at the Catholic Writing Conference! That last picture is of me in Flannery :)   

Fall in DC

It's been so lovely to spend some time with Max and Laura in DC and some of their close friends. Our first night we went to Chai Pani, a wonderful Indian restaurant, and then went for a walk in their neighborhood. Here I am in front of the Library of Congress.

 

We had a beautiful walk to the Museum of the Bible. I loved seeing all the old artefacts. One thing that came to mind is Cardinal St. John Henry Newman's observation, that to be steeped in history is to cease to be Protestant.

We could've spent many more hours in this museum but we'd promised to cook supper (they both had to work all day). So fun to cook in their cute little kitchen--we'd picked up fresh fish and vegetables at the Eastern market across the street and Laura had chocolate from a special shop in VA. So delicious. I'm still enjoying a couple of squares daily :)

We went to the market again Saturday morning but this time, a couple of the streets were blocked off for various vendors. Then off to the Georgetown cemetery for a Rosary walk to get our plenary indulgence! The fall colors are absolutely stunning. So much beauty!

The Dumbarton Oaks was near the cemetery. They had a tropical garden too. My favorite room was the music room--I could picture the intimate setting for a small ensemble. 

Dinner at El Presidente--I loved the food, the tapestry, and the taxidermy. Fun to visit Max's office just around the corner. So great to see all the places he hangs out. He works hard and plays hard. I'm so proud of him. 

 

Sunday morning we walked to St. Joseph's for Mass, then to Butterworth's for lunch. I had the most delicious bone marrow (topped with snails that Max ate from the cute little cup). 

Yes, our family is growing! This wonderful priest is preparing Max and Laura for Holy Matrimony.

Our Lady of Victory

On this Feast of Our Lady, I was so happy to read the daily Gospel from Luke 10:38-42. It is exactly what I needed. 

Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord said to her in reply, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her."

And what better way than to pray the Holy Rosary given to St. Dominic. It's like sitting at the feet of Mary as she tells us the greatest story. And it happens to be the most powerful weapon against evil. Our Lady, Queen of Peace, pray for us. 

My Guardian Dear

Happy Feast of Guardian Angels. 

We know each of us has a guardian angel. But how often do we ask for his help? 

The first time I realized my guardian angel was my best hope was when I was scheduled to teach three workshops at a Christian writing conference several hours away by car. I woke up with a horrible migraine and cried as I wondered how I would manage the drive. I did not want to be unprofessional and cancel at the last minute. I cried because there is an element of shame in being chronically ill—I suffer from migraine headaches that can debilitate me for nearly half the days in a month—and I did not want to admit how weak I was. So, I prayed to my angel to bring me safely there and back. 

I still don’t know how I made the long drive. I put on my Rosary CD, and then listened to the Gospel of John, thinking how beautiful it would be to have Jesus upon my heart if I were to die. Not that I wanted to die. My children were still young. My husband would miss me. And I was loving my writing life even more since we had converted to Catholicism. I wanted everybody to have what I had—Jesus! 

And boom! The revelation hit me—my guardian angel isn’t here just to protect me from bodily harm but to make sure I get to Heaven. Heaven! That’s the goal. 

God loves us so much He appoints an angel from the moment of our conception to guard and protect us from all dangers, and to guide us to our eternal home. This awareness, which I’ve had since I was a small child, still astounds me. As a child, I had complete trust in God’s protection. But the problem of suffering, so present in my life, was difficult to reconcile with belief in an omnipotent God. So, at age twelve I lost my faith, and ended my invocations to my guardian angel. But, without my knowledge, my angel was still guiding me. 

I am very thankful to my angel for protecting me from death during my twenties because had I died then, my intellect so clouded by sin, I might have rejected God’s mercy and gone to Hell. It is by the grace of God, and the patience and long-suffering of my guardian angel, that I’ve been able to hear His promptings and return to God, and when my plans derail, to pray “not my will but Thine.” 

I am also returning to that childhood state of complete trust and surrender. If I am anxious about anything, I ask my angel to take care of the situation. I call upon the guardian angels of my children when I’m at the brink of losing my patience. I also call upon the angels of the people to whom I want to be a faithful witness. What a comfort it is to draw upon heavenly assistance. 

Guardian angels carry our prayers and offerings to the throne of God; they come to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with us, and if we are unable to attend, as it was for many during the pandemic, we can ask our angel to go in our place to praise and adore our blessed Lord. These heavenly creatures are a gift to us. Let us always remember they are watching over us and want us to reach Heaven! Cultivate a relationship with your angel. They are God’s gift to each of us. 

Dear angel! Ever at my side. 

How loving must thou be 

To leave thy home in Heaven 

to guard a guilty wretch like me. 

~ Fr. Frederick William Faber (AD 1814-1863)

This article was published in Shalom Tidings Sept. 2022 issue: https://shalomtidings.org/my-guardian-dear/

Happy Pentecost!

What an amazing weekend! We had the great pleasure of listening to the Charleston Symphony perform some of the most beautiful pieces of music--Samuel Barber's Agnus Dei (swoon), Schubert's Mass in G (my heart soared at the Sanctus), and more. I bought tickets at the last minute because we weren't sure whether we'd be going to the priestly ordinations at the St. John the Baptist Cathedral that very night, but with six priests being ordained, I knew there'd hardly be any room. So we went to the concert instead and given that all of it is a prayer, I felt good about offering it for the new priests. Dagny made an interesting observation--that one can sing these beautiful Mass settings for a concert, yet in many places, the Latin Mass is being suppressed. How can that which has always been holy be restricted is beyond my understanding. But that's a discussion for another day. Many in our Charleston Sound Chorus were able to come to listen to our own Danielle Simonian sing. She's amazing. Listen to her hold a looooong note at the very end in her quartet Encore: How Many Hearts Have You Broken (near). 

Saturday we sang at Fr. Justin Damask's first Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. It was the old Pentecost Vigil, lesser only than the great Easter Vigil, and so very beautiful. Fr. Wilson gave a rousing homily, reminding that in the early church, vigils would go long into the night as the faithful listened to the Word, prayed, and were exhorted to live a good Christian life, and so we participate in that tradition of the Apostles and Mary. Yes, she was there! He spoke about pride, how language becomes a tool to control and the great reversal of Babel at Pentecost. From the beginning, the church is Catholic. It doesn't erase differences, but brings order to chaos. We see the New Covenant reflected in the Old, the Holy Fire, that doesn't annihilate, but transforms. And when we are open, the graces that rain down to us from above overflow. So many blessings! 

Finally, I share a bit of my own artwork. On First Fridays, our local library hosts Crafternoon, so I go there to play for a couple of hours, then off to First Friday Mass (devotion to the Sacred Heart). Given the plethora of AI-generated art that's trained on the work of humans who are not compensated, I wanted to share my first efforts at painting animals. I made the collage for Put a Ring on It quartet that sing the cutest song: A Dress with Pockets (my mother sewed pockets in all of our dresses). The stained glass is a gift from Dagny. Fitting for Pentecost! Come Holy Spirit! May this be a summer of great growth in all the gifts that God has bestowed upon us.