Wassup

Not much here. Going to the beach with the kids.

But Petrus has something nice on her blog that she has resurrected.

Go read it and post a comment. It will make her day.

And she will so owe me ;).

Bearing Wrongs

"To bear with patience wrongs done to oneself is a mark of perfection, but to bear with patience wrongs done to someone else is a mark of imperfection and even of actual sin."

Saint Thomas Aquinas

I've had something on my mind and this was the answer.

And a friend told me that reading Thomas Aquinas in Latin is easy. But I think maybe she meant easy for her. But I'm going to try it.

Not around much...

...been working on this.



Come visit.

Pictures from the Philippines

This first picture is of the tents set up in the jungle when the doctors and nurses travelled outside the city of General Santos. They were there with the protection of the Filipino and the U.S. Army. 2000 patients were seen during the 2 week medical mission and 5000 Rosaries were distributed.



On the last day the missionaries were taken to the ocean before they returned home.



This is a picture of Dr. Phalen enjoying a Diet Coke. I understand that is not ALL she drank on the trip. A hem. Seriously though, apparently women do not drink in the Philippines and Dr. Phalen horrified the populace by having a beer. Unfortunately there is no photographic documentation which makes it an unverified rumour.



This shows the barbed wire around the perimeter of the houses. The first night Ana spent in the Philippines her gracious host told her all about the burglaries and kidnappings that were common in their town usually perpetrated by natives and Muslims. Just last month the home Ana stayed in had been invaded. Three men hid in the pantry all day until the servants went home. The residents counted themselves lucky- they were only robbed and not kidnapped. They didn't sleep too well that first night.



This is Jack Fruit- one of the many fruits that Ana fell in love with. She ate rombutons, papayas, mangos and I have no idea what else.



One of the many gorgeous flowers of the Philippines.




The other flowers that the Philippines are graced with.



One of Ana's jobs was to hold babies while their mothers were seeing the doctors. She liked that job.

Pictures from the Philippines Medical Mission

This first picture is of Anastasia and Dr. Phalen riding on a motorcycle taxi. I'm assured that it is as perilous as it looks.




This is Anastasia's best friend- Jannilyn who is also 17 years old. Couldn't they be sisters! The Filipino people told Ana she had "their skin" color.



I know what Dr. Phalen is thinking about when she posed for this picture. While Dr. Phalen was a medical student in Ireland she had a scooter that she said was "the best thing". She road it back and forth in all weather and at all hours to and from the hospital.



This final picture is a carving of the Infant and Madonna in the rocks.

Anastasia in the Philippines with Rosa Mystica Medical Mission

Here is a sign (helpfully in English) welcoming the volunteers to General Santos City on the southernmost tip of Mindanao.



Here you can just barely make Ana out. She is wearing a narrow white headband and is seated to the left of a lady in a pink shirt.




Finally, here you can see Ana assisting a dentist while a lady either has her teeth cleaned or pulled. She returns to Boston at 10:24pm Tuesday night and we can't wait to see her. She told us she has so many storeis to tell us and pictures.

To read more from the website where the pictures came from you can go here.

Reading French will help you.

The Jane Austen Doll

Did you know that you can purchase a Jane Austen doll?

Or Edgar Allen Poe, or Gandhi or Shakespeare or Einstein?

Since as the character in Becoming Jane says:

"Irony is two contradictory truths brought together to make a new truth."

A Jane Austen doll satisfies all the requirements of that definition.

Hope

Hope pulled from the Peruvian rubble.

Burlington Free Press Article about the Vermont Latin Mass

To View the Slide Show- go here.


For the Free Press Article- they quote me at the end.

The Latin Mass Network

To find a Latin Mass- there's a new website I'm helping to develop.

The Latin Mass Network

Your additions and corrections are welcomed.

Come and say Hi!

Finally in Vermont: A Latin Mass

For the Feast of the Assumption, the Bishop of Vermont, His Excellency, Salvatore Matano, said the Latin Mass at the Co-Cathedral, St. Joseph's Church, in Burlington, Vermont

I was there with my children and am still overwhelmed at the beauty of the Mass said for the first time in decades at the parish my husband and I used to attend when we were first married. We used to walk to Mass in the evening after we finished with work. Our oldest daughter, Anastasia was baptized there and we miss it.

WCAX has video and a story here.

Here's more video and another story by Channel 5 WPTZ.

I'm just going to keep adding to this list- Free Republic had a post from a dear priest who I had the privelege to meet after Mass. And then my old friend Mike Fieschko cited my blog. It's here.

If you are curious, the handsome (indulge me here) dark skinned altar servers are my sons, Andrew who is 14 and Nathaniel who is 12. Fr. McDermott said to me, "may one or both of them become priests". From Fr. McDermott's mouth to God's ear.

There is also a shot of a pensive young lady, wearing a white eyelet blouse, round white veil, and heart shaped necklace (on the back of which is an image of Our Lady) and that is my 16 year old daughter Veronica Rose.

The Co-Cathedral holds 1100 people and it was "standing room only". And in Vermont 1100 is like a million.

The Bishop's homily was phenomenal. The most riveting for me was when His Excellency declared:

"As the Shepherd of this Diocese, I will do whatever it takes, in union with the Holy Father, Pope Benedict, to fill the Churches of this diocese. This is your home. This is your home. THIS is your home!"

The Mass was said beautifully. The choir was amazing. The sermon was proclaimed with conviction.

But at the end of the day it is not the beauty of the liturgy, the transcendant nature of the worship, or the reverence shown by the Faithful but how all these elements combined bring about the salavation of souls. May God will it thus.

Baby Fatima Saved by US Troops in Iraq

Baby Fatima was rescued by U.S. Troops in Iraq after being found in a dumpster of garbage. She will join her 5 siblings who are already in an orphanage when she is ready to leave the hospital. Eventhough there have been adoption inquiries:

MUSLIM LAW DOES NOT PERMIT ADOPTION.

That sounds about right doesn't it?

The whole story here from Drudge.

Becoming Jane

The Becoming Jane movie is here much to the delight of Jane Austen fans everywhere. But will it satisfy the way that Emma and Sense and Sensibility did?



There is no question that the photography is beautiful. Anne Hathaway acts the part of Jane with grace, style, depth and honor. I can think of no better actress to portray her. Just as Gwyneth Paltrow became Emma, Anne Hathaway was Jane.



The movie is a fictionalized account of Jane Austen's life. There have been rumors that she suffered a disappointment when she was young. Maybe the reality was very close to this account. I admit that with the turns and twists in the plot I did not know until the very end how the movie and Jane's life would conclude. The final scene is one that will make you gasp wtih surprise.

Though a little bit surprised at some of the bawdy humor and a rather suggestive discussion, I have to say the costumes, the storyline- which was exciting, the fine acting of Jane and her parents, and the strong support for duty won me over. Naturally it is a must see for any Jane Austen fan but I would recommend it for young adults and up.

Plum Island, Massachusetts

Yesterday we spent a really glorious day at Plum Island Beach. The Island is actually a protected wildlife refuge and home to many bird species including the famous piping plovers. We didn't see any birds other than the sea gulls who stole one peanut butter and fluff sandwich and then later in the day attacked our bag of garbage scattering it.



The sunburns are mild. We did use sunscreen but we bought it at Building 19 for $.97. For those of you who don't know what Building 19 is, the Odd Lot, Job Lot stores are a big step up.

The waves were great and it was perfect weatherwise. No one drowned and there was only one sliced toe. We stayed so long I really should have packed dinner too- next time.

After we got home and I was checking the news I found this news flash:

Great White Shark Spotted Off Chatham, Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

This is the same shark as the Jaws movies which I understand are documentaries ;). The reassuring words from the experts were that Great Whites travel alone and travel 30-50 miles per day and eat rarely so this one's seal snack will probably last several days before it feeds again.



Before we moved north the National Sea Shore in Chatham was our favorite beach and we went there all summer. Though with our luck the next stop for the Great White on it's dining tour will probably be Plum Island for a nice piping plover snack.

To the Max: Maximum Ride: Saving the World and

...other Extreme Sports.

I remember staying up all night reading in the Summertime- one of the best things about Summer was not having to get up for school the next day so I could keep reading until I knew how the book would end. "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley and "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Hemingway were two books that kept me up all night.

I just finished reading the sci-fi novel for teens, Maximum Ride by James Patterson. (Available at Amazon). It's the kind of book that could have kept me reading all night when I was a teenager. Part three of a trilogy the exciting story of the "bird kids" and their talking dog continues. I haven't read the first two volumes but I was able to follow the story and best of all keep reading inspite of the many motherly distractions around here ;).

The dialogue is lively, spunky and totally teen-speak. No one is going to feel condescended to, reading this. The storyline is simple but the 400 pages is full of plot "flyboy twists" "eraser turns", betrayal, redemption, hopes dungeon-dashed and then restored. I won't ruin the ending for you but I think you will come to like Max, the girl leader who is as tough a heroine as you will find and her goth bird boy friend, Fang and their misfit flock of bird kids.

One of the best things about the book is the relevancy of it with its theme of cloning, human-animal hybrids, evil science that ignores ethics, and the dehumanization of the "imperfect", "unfit" and those plotting their extinction. Since Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, ethicists have pondered the what-ifs of man-animal combinations. All you have to do is read the Drudge Report to know that we are at that point.

It's an entertaining book that my kids will enjoy reading. Their interest was piqued when they were at the library and the librarian came upon this book and stopped, held it in her hands and said, "It's here."

Yes it is.

In Joy In Woe, in Good and Ill

Although he was not Catholic, Edgar Allen Poe (doesn't his very name send shivers up your spine?!) wrote this beautiful poem about Our Lady:

Hymn of the Angelus

At morn, at noon, at twilight dim,
Maria, thou has heard my hymn.
In joy and woe, in good and ill,
Mother of God, be with me still!

When the hours flew brightly by,
And not a cloud obscured the sky,
My soul, lest it should truant be
Thy grace did guide to thine and thee;

Now, when the storms of fate o'ercast
Darkly, my present and my past,
Let my future radiant shine
With sweet hopes of thee and thine.

Edgar Allen Poe was born the child of two actors in Boston, Massachusetts in 1809. Upon publication of his most famous work, The Raven,he became wellknown and heralded. In 1847 his wife died young and tragically. He died a mere two years later of grief and insanity at the age of 40.

He was also know for his poem, Annabelle Lee.


Poe's Cottage in the Bronx. Apparently, (well according to Wikipedia which is only as reliable as the contributors) Poe enjoyed talking with the Jesuits at Fordham, which makes his failure to convert even more puzzling. He is the ghost story of poets and his macabre poetry and prose too much to my liking. I would be very surprised if Flannery O'Connor was not influenced by him.

Doncha?

...just love this rendering of the Epiphany by Giotto? I especially like the fact that one of the Kings is holding the Baby Jesus. Because you know they didn't come all that way just to wave to Him. And Our Lady is reclining and resting in what reminds us of the Ark of the Covenant because she was the new Ark.

Thanks to the Incarnation, thanks to what Mary gave to the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity by way of outfit when He moved into our world, thanks to His little hands and feet and eyes, His little Body wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in the straw in a cave, letting an ox and an ass breathe on Him- our toil, our sweat, our aches and pains, the way we genuflect, the fold of our hands- through them the Divinity is flowing, because my flesh and blood, through Holy Communion, can assume the Flesh and Blood which Jesus assumed.

from "Not Made For This World" by Fr. Leonard Feeney, MICM