Halloween's Coming: Horror, Monster, and Monstrance

We're going to count down to Halloween with some of my favorite spooky quotes and images. But let's put it in perspective first ... Catholic perspective that is!

By Toby Ord

Most people don't think of horror as a genre of literature or film that is particularly agreeable to Christian sensibilities. However, two of the great practitioners of horror on both page and screen consider their work to be an extension of the gospel. Stephen King, author of many a scary tale, says that he considers himself the spiritual heir of the great Puritan preacher, Jonathan Edwards (who preached the famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"). William Peter Blatty, who penned "The Exorcist" wrote the story precisely in order to show both the depths of demonic evil and to remind the world of the reality of Christ-like self-sacrifice.

By Broederhugo

It is the depth of the darkness of the Enemy that paradoxically highlights the brilliance of the light of Heaven. Indeed, the word "monster" comes from the same root as the word "demonstrate" and "monstrance." A "monster" demonstrates what we can and will be apart from Christ. A monstrance shows forth the saving eucharistic, and self-sacrificial power of him who underwent the worst horror the world has ever known to save us from the terrors of Hell. He has prepared a eucharistic table for us in the presence of Satan himself--and deprived him of his prey.

This Halloween, be not afraid.

Catholic Exchange, Word of Encouragement, Oct. 31, 2005

Autumn Maple Trees

Autumn Maple Trees, a screen painted by Tawaraya Sōri, late 1700s.
Via J.R.'s Art Place.

Click the link to see it larger. I love Japanese Maples.

The Witches' Ride

The Witches' Ride by William Holbrook Beard, 1870.
Via J.R.'s Art Place

Maareesan

Dhaya, a thief, sets out on a journey with Velayudham, who has Alzheimer's disease, intending to loot him. However, the trip ends up changing their lives forever.

Even if I don't like a Fahdah Faasil movie, I always love watching his performance. I really liked this so it was a double win. Don't read about the plot. Just let it unfold.

Kohada Koheiji

Kohada Koheiji, Hokusai
from the series Hyaku Monogatari [One Hundred Ghost Stories] (ca. 1830)
via J.R.'s Art Place

Based on a real event, the cuckold and murder victim Kohada Koheiji returns from the dead to torment his cheating wife and lover. Here he grins over the top of the mosquito netting that surrounds the bed of his killers.

See more at Public Domain Review.

Memorial: St. Theresa of Avila

Saint Theresa of Avila
Saint, Mystic, Doctor of the Church
Memorial

Saint Teresa of Ávila by Peter Paul Rubens

St. Theresa of Avila is probably the second saint who ever "caught" my attention. She did so by force of her remarkable personality which comes to us down through the ages as vital and sparkling. She was a profound contemplative, a zealous reformer of religious life, and the first female doctor of the Church. Those things make us expect a person so far above us in prayer, thought, and accomplishments that we can never hope to understand her. Indeed, she is far above me in all those things. However, it is impossible not to love and relate to someone with this amount of sass:

Those watching from the river bank saw the carriage she was in swaying on the brink of the torrent. She jumped out awkwardly, up to her knees in water, and hurt herself in the process. Wryly, she complained. "so much to put up with and you send me this!" Jesus replied, "Teresa, that's how I treat my friends." She was not lost for an answer: "Small wonder you have so few!"

That's so very human and Theresa lets her humanity hang out in a very real way.

From silly devotions and from sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us.

She scandalized people when they came upon her teaching the nuns in her convent to dance. When they received a donation of pheasant on a fast day, she instantly cooked them up for all to feast upon. "Let them think what they like, she said. "There is a time for penance, and there is a time for pheasant."

When I have trouble praying I remember that St. Theresa too said that she often needed to have a book to help her pray (obviously a soul sistah!). She was often distracted and couldn't calm her thoughts.

This intellect is so wild that it doesn't seem to be anything else than a frantic madman no one can tie down.

Heaven only knows that I have had more times like that than I care to admit. When I have trouble sticking with prayer at all, Theresa's open and honest avowal helps me hang in there just a little longer.

For many years I kept wishing the time would be over. I had more in mind the clock striking twelve than other good things. Often I would have preferred some serious penance to becoming recollected in prayer.

These things are those which give me hope that I could come near to loving God and serving Him the way that she did. Here is a little more information about her.

Last, but not least, here are a few of my favorite inspirational quotes (since I have already favored you with the more humorous above).

How is it, Lord, that we are cowards in everything save in opposing Thee?

Give me wealth or poverty, give me comfort or discomfort, give me joy or sorrow...What do you want to make of me?

As to the aridity you are suffering from, it seems to me our Lord is treating you like someone He considers strong: He wants to test you and see if you love Him as much at times of aridity as when He sends you consolations. I think this is a very great favor for God to show you.

Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.

It is only mercenaries who expect to be paid by the day.

Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life, which is short and has to be lived by you alone; and there is only one glory, which is eternal. If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.

Fleeing Skeleton

Fleeing Skeleton by Władysław Podkowiński, 1892.

You could think of this as a bit of memento mori (an artistic or symbolic trope acting as a reminder of the inevitability of death)! Or just as a nice scary piece of art for October!

Pope St. Callistus, Martyr

St. Callistus

Imagine that your biography was written by an enemy of yours. And that its information was all anyone would have not only for the rest of your life but for centuries to come. You would never be able to refute it -- and even if you could no one would believe you because your accuser was a saint.

That is the problem we face with Pope Callistus I who died about 222. The only story of his life we have is from someone who hated him and what he stood for, an author identified as Saint Hippolytus, a rival candidate for the chair of Peter. What had made Hippolytus so angry? Hippolytus was very strict and rigid in his adherence to rules and regulations. The early Church had been very rough on those who committed sins of adultery, murder, and fornication. Hippolytus was enraged by the mercy that Callistus showed to these repentant sinners, allowing them back into communion of the Church after they had performed public penance. Callistus' mercy was also matched by his desire for equality among Church members, manifested by his acceptance of marriages between free people and slaves. Hippolytus saw all of this as a degradation of the Church, a submission to lust and licentiousness that reflected not mercy and holiness in Callistus but perversion and fraud. ...

As sad as it is to realize that the only story we have of his life is by an enemy, it is glorious to see in it the fact that the Church is large enough not only to embrace sinners and saints, but to proclaim two people saints who hold such wildly opposing views and to elect a slave and an alleged ex-convict to guide the whole Church. There's hope for all of us then!

Catholic Online

Today we celebrate St. Callistus, a saint who was merciful. For this he was castigated by someone who also became a saint. And his history is written by those who hated him.

It strikes me that he is particularly suited to lend us his aid and wisdom in these days of finger pointing, castigation, and general wrath.

Read all of St. Callistus' story at Catholic Online.

St. Callistus, pray for us, pray for our country.

Rip Van Winkle

Rip Van Winkle. N. C. Wyeth, 1921
via Books and Art

In October  my thoughts naturally turn to Washington Irving's masterpieces The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. And I don't think anyone ever illustrated them better than N.C. Wyeth. Or maybe that comes of having books with covers like these scattered around my grandparents' house.

Carlo Acutis — Computer Geek, Gamer, and Saint

Carlo Acutis's feast day is October 12 which is a Sunday this year. So we're going to move him to the next day so we may all remember him appropriately.

Carlo Acutis (1991-2006)

 You can hardly get a more modern saint than Carlo Acutis whose mother said, "Carlo led a normal life: He went to school, he played sports, he played video games, although usually just one hour a week because he understood that one could be enslaved by video games."

He also loved soccer, comics, and movies. His true nature was reflected when he defended kids from bullies, comforted friends whose parents were divorcing, created a website cataloguing Eucharistic miracles, and volunteered among the homeless.

I love this saint whose hobbies and modern life remind me so much of my nieces and nephews, not to mention those that my grandchild and grand-nieces and nephew and godchildren will doubtless love. I hope they also have Carlo's love of God and of his fellow man.

Pope Leo canonized him Sept. 7, 2025, so some of the linked stories may talk about "Blessed" because it's such a recent change.

Here's a brief summary of his life from Franciscan Media's saint of the day:

Born in London and raised in Milan, Carlo’s wealthy parents were not particularly religious. Upon receiving his first communion at age seven, Carlo became a frequent communicant, making a point of praying before the tabernacle before or after every Mass. In addition to Francis of Assisi, Carlo took several of the younger saints as his models, including Bernadette Soubirous, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, and Dominic Savio.

At school Carlo tried to comfort friends whose parents were undergoing divorce, as well as stepping in to defend disabled students from bullies. After school hours he volunteered his time with the city's homeless and destitute. Considered a computer geek by some, Carlo spent four years creating a website dedicated to cataloguing every reported Eucharistic miracle around the world. He also enjoyed films, comics, soccer, and playing popular video games.

Diagnosed with leukemia, Carlo offered his sufferings to God for the intentions of the sitting pope—Benedict XVI—and the entire Church. His longtime desire to visit as many sites of Eucharistic miracles as possible was cut short by his illness. Carlo died in 2006 and was beatified in 2020.

As he had wished, Carlo was buried in Assisi at St. Mary Major’s “Chapel of the Stripping”, where Francis had returned his clothes to his father and began a more radical following of the Gospel.

Among the thousands present for Carlo’s beatification at Assisi’s Basilica of St. Francis were many of his childhood friends. Presiding at the beatification service, Cardinal Agostino Vallini praised Carlo as an example of how young people can use technology to spread the Gospel “to reach as many people as possible and help them know the beauty of friendship with the Lord.” His liturgical feast is celebrated on October 12.

Read more at the links below:

• 17 Things Every Catholic Should Know About Carlo Acutis
  
• Blessed Carlo Acutis: his life, his miracles and his legacy
  
• Wikipedia entry
   

Only For Today: the daily decalogue of Pope John XXIII

It's the feast day of Pope John XXIII so this is the perfect time to consider this decalogue which is so practical and down-to-earth. I love the practicality of these ten resolutions and when I've remembered them, my life has been easier and happier.

In looking around, I was interested to see that this comes from a homily by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone who helped John XXIII organize and run the second Vatican council. He must have known the pope well and so this means all the more.

The daily decalogue of Pope John XXIII

1) Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.

2) Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behaviour; I will not criticize anyone; I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.

3) Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.

4) Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.

5) Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.

6) Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.

7) Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure that no one notices.

8) Only for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.

9) Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in this world.

10) Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed, for 12 hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.

Spooky Art from Victor Hugo

 Victor Hugo was a prolific writer, but also a prolific artist with around 4,000 pieces of art to his name. Click through on the link to see more selections of his spooky art thanks to J.R.'s Art Place.

TV You Might Have Missed 16: Taskmaster

Five comedians are set tasks challenging their creativity and wit. The tasks are supervised by Alex Horne but the Taskmaster, Greg Davies, gives points based on his own personal, occasional whimsical criteria. The tasks are nonsensical but inventive such as making a portrait of a celebrity using toilet paper rolls, getting three giant yoga balls to the top of a hill, or catching things in an open top hat on your head. 

The fun depends on the good cheer of the comedians who earnestly strive to win each task. The true hilarity, though, comes from the Taskmaster's quick wit and his comic exchanges with Alex Horne, who is also genuinely funny just in a different way.

This is the only show I can think of which is so genuinely funny. We have watched all 19 seasons, some of them twice. Usually crudity is held to a minimum which is refreshing. (Except for season 5 which we couldn't finish.) This show helped get me through the early, chaotic days of my mother's latest illness and beginning of her hospice at home. It's truly enjoyable.

What a queer thing Life is!

What a queer thing Life is! So unlike anything else, don't you know, if you see what I mean.

P.G. Wodehouse

This is just one of those inspired bits of incoherence that makes Wodehouse fans laugh and want more. Also, it's true.

It's October! The Garden of Death

The Garden of Death by Hugo Simberg, 1896.

Typically symbols of death, these skeletons are instead gardening - which is a symbol of life.

2026 Schedule - A Good Story is Hard to Find

 Scott and I are looking forward to another great year of viewing and reading ... and TALKING!

• Jan. 13 — Guest TBD
• Jan. 27 — Singing in the Rain
• Feb. 10 — Kristin Lavransdatter, The Wreath (Tina Nunnally transl.)
• Feb. 24 — Goldfinger
• March 10 — Kristin Lavransdatter, The Wife (Tina Nunnally transl.)
• March 24 — Thelma
• April 7 — Kristin Lavransdatter, The Cross (Tina Nunnally transl.)
• April 21 — Blade Runner
• May 5 — Sir Gawain and the Green Night (Tolkien translation)
• May 19 — Kumbalangi Nights
• June 2 — Dancehall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman
• June 16 — Hombre (1967)
• June 30 — All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley
• July 14 — Billu Barber
• July 28 — Talents Incorporated/A Matter of Importance - Murray Leinster
• August 11 — The Mass (Word on Fire)
• August 25 — Dolphin Island / A Little Princess
• Sept. 8 — Mrs. Miniver
• Sept. 22 — The Warden - Anthony Trollope
• Oct. 6 — The Seventh Seal (1957)
• Oct. 20 — Edgar Allan Poe Stories
• Nov. 3 — The Best Years of Our Lives
• Nov. 17 — The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis - Jason Baxter
• Dec. 1 — Toy Story (1995)
• Dec. 15 — The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

Notes on Mark: Feeding the Five Thousand

Mosaic of bread and fish in the
Church of the Multiplication in Tabgha, Israel

MARK 6:35-44
Just really thinking about Jesus feeding the five thousand is mind blowing. For one thing only the men would have been counted. So when including the women and children there may have been actually ten thousand or more people there. Barclay tells us that each loaf was not what we would think of as a loaf of bread but more like a small roll. Not that it really matters but it just signifies God's abundance even more. I also liked this commentary about how the miracle of the loaves connects with the Last Supper.

The miracle of the loaves looks both to the past and the future.

(1) It recalls miraculous feedings from the OT, like the heavenly manna God provided for Israel in the wilderness (Ex 16) and the multiplied loaves and leftover baskets provided by Elisha (2 Kings 4:42-44).

(2) It also anticipates the later institution of the Eucharist, where the same string of verbs (taking ... blessed ... broke ... gave) is found together, something that only occurs here and at the Last Supper (14:22; CCC 1335).

The Gospel of Mark(The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible)

===== 

Sources and Notes Index     

All-consuming interests

For the faithful believer, understanding God and thereby living a godly life are all-consuming interests.

Bruce Gordon, The Bible

Hey, that's me!

Newman Reads

Newman Reads

Waves Breaking

Claude Monet, Wave Breaking, 1881

Lagniappe: The Underground and the Death Star

The Underground works all day and all evening, which means the brave men and women in high-visibility orange who keep it running have to work all night. The depot is so full of people banging bits of metal together and scraping things to make sparks that if you squinted you'd swear they were about to launch a last desperate attack against the Death Star.

Ben Aaronovitch, The Furthest Station

I just love his turn of phrase and ability to evoke a mental image. Plus, he makes me laugh.

Feast of the Guardian Angels

Another of my favorite feast days. 

A statue of an angel at a cemetery in Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana

Devotion to the Guardian Angels goes back to the beginnings of Christianity. Pope Clement X proclaimed the feast a universal celebration in the seventeenth century. The Guardian Angels serve as the messengers of God. The Almighty has allocated a Guardian Angel to each one of us for our protection and for the good of our apostolate...

We have to deal with our Guardian Angels in a familiar way, while at the same time recognizing their superior nature and grace. Though less palpable in their presence than human friends are, their efficacy for our benefit is far greater. Their counsel and suggestions come from God, and penetrate more deeply than any human voice. To reiterate, their capacity for hearing and understanding us is much superior even to that of our most faithful human friend, since their attendance at our side is continuous; they can enter more deeply into our intentions, desires and petitions than can any human being, since angels can reach our imagination directly without recourse to the comprehension of words. They are able to incite images, provoke memories, and make impressions in order to give us direction.

In Conversation With God : Feast Days July - December 

As devoted as I am to the Archangels, I am especially fond of my Guardian Angel. He is always there when I need him and has a wicked sense of humor. Perhaps wicked is not the right word. He must, therefore, have an angelic sense of humor! This is one of my favorite feast days.

For my personal angel stories, as well as some general information, you can read more here and here.

Prayer to One's Guardian Angel

Dear Angel,
in his goodness God gave you to me to
guide, protect and enlighten me,
and to being me back to the right way when I go astray.
Encourage me when I am disheartened,
and instruct me when I err in my judgment.
Help me to become more Christlike,
and so some day to be accepted into
the company of Angels and Saints in heaven.
Amen.

Feast Day of St. Therese of Lisieux: The Strong Woman Called the "Little Flower"

What broke open connecting with St. Therese for me? A good translation and a second book. I wrote about it for Patheos several years ago and Therese's feast day seems a good time to share it here.

Brede, No Treacle*: St. Therese and Rumer Godden

Canonized less than thirty years after her death, Thérèse's only book, The Story of a Soul, was enough to get her named a saint, and more recently a Doctor of the Church. Thérèse is the youngest person to be so named and only the third woman to receive this honor.

This all is quite praiseworthy. What is it, then, about this saint that divides Catholics sharply into two camps: those who love her unreservedly and those who are pointedly indifferent when her name is mentioned?

In a nutshell, it is Thérèse's own words that lead many to distastefully associate her with saccharin piety. Her autobiography was written as a young girl to her sister in the flowery, sentimental French style of the late 19th century. Older translations, if anything, heighten the over-wrought style. The other problem is the subject matter: early childhood devotion to Jesus, testimony about her relationship with Jesus, and Thérèse's struggles in the convent to do small things for Christ. Even talented writers might struggle to communicate these concepts well, much less a young woman with limited writing experience.

I read The Story of a Soul long ago because I was urged to do so by many devotees of "The Little Flower," as she is called. Wishing to politely turn off those suggestions, I read the book as fast as possible. Naturally, I got little from it.

The key, as I discovered recently, is not only to read St. Thérèse with attention, but to have a translation that cuts through her "treacle." Robert Edmonson's translation from Paraclete Press does precisely that. Thérèse's trademark piety, sincerity, and liveliness cannot be denied, but this translation makes it easier to see beneath her superficial-seeming surface to the complex person underneath. She emerges as tough, uncompromising, and heroic with a strong core of common sense.

The second experience that I had concerns the priests. Never having lived close to them, I couldn't understand the principal goal of the Carmelite reform [to pray for priests]. To pray for sinners delighted me, but to pray for the souls of priests, whom I thought of as purer than crystal, seemed astonishing to me. ...

For a month I lived with many holy priests, and I saw that if their sublime dignity raises them above the Angels, they are nonetheless weak and fragile men . ... If holy priests whom Jesus calls in the Gospel "the salt of the earth" show in their behavior that they have an extreme need of prayers, what can one say about the ones who are lukewarm? Didn't Jesus add, "But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?" [Mt 5:13]

Her observation sadly resonates all too well with the modern reader. The 15-year-old Thérèse is revealed as someone who faces the truth and applies the only action she can take, which is prayer.

Thérèse also reveals her extreme struggles to love her neighbors in the convent, often accompanied by a lively sense of the ridiculous. There is the example of her determination to assist an elderly Sister down a long hallway after dinner, which begins with the aged woman shaking her hourglass at Thérèse to get her attention. This contains so much truth, conveyed with such good humor, that we can see the Sister's personality exactly because we know people just like her. Thérèse is never afraid to laugh at herself either.

... I've made a sort of speech about charity that must have tired you out reading it. Forgive me, beloved Mother, and remember that right now the nurses are practicing on my behalf what I've just written. They're not afraid to go two miles when twenty steps would suffice. So I've been able to observe charity in action! ...

When I begin to take up my pen, here's a good Sister who passes near me, a pitchfork over her shoulder. She thinks she's entertaining me by chatting with me a little. Hay, ducks, hens, a doctor's visit, everything's on the table. To tell you the truth, that doesn't last long, but there's more than one good, charitable Sister, and suddenly another hay cutter drops some flowers in my lap, thinking that perhaps she'll inspire some poetic ideas in me. Not seeking out flowers right then, I would prefer that they remain attached to their stems.

It has become fashionable to discount St. Thérèse's spiritual struggles by filtering them through modern perspectives. Biographers look at the girl whose mother died when she was very small, at her "abandonment" by her older sisters as they one by one entered the convent, at her early entry into the cloister. They speak of neuroses and a stifled personality by living in the unrealistic atmosphere of the convent.

It's better to take Thérèse at her word. Many people suffered similar life circumstances and worse, but were never suffused with the love of God, or the wisdom, that Thérèse relates.

An antidote to the heaping of modern perspectives onto Thérèse's insights might be to read one of the finest books ever written about convent life. In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden is fictional but it portrays cloistered convent life in such a real, luminous way that it could be mistaken for an autobiography.

Philippa Talbot, a successful career woman in her 40s, leaves London to join a cloistered Benedictine community. Once she enters, the narrative never leaves that setting, yet the story is riveting. There are mysteries and minor intrigues, but the focus is on the characters, who are fully realized with flaws and virtues alike. Readers soon realize that life among the religious is no easier path; an enclosed community requires more Christian development from the souls within, not less.

Rumer Godden lived at the gatehouse of an English enclosed community for three years while writing In This House of Brede, during which time she converted to Catholicism, and eventually became a Benedictine Oblate. The deep understanding that comes from real exposure to the life infuses the novel with such authenticity that the book is still recommended by actual cloistered religious to those who wonder what such life can be like.

Godden had a talent for looking into the heart of what makes us truly human, both good and bad. In holding up her characters' flaws, she holds up a mirror into which we blush to look, even when the flaws seem relatively minor.

... Odd, she [Philippa] had thought, I never seriously visualized coming out of Brede again; it had not occurred to her, but in those minutes it occurred painfully. She could have blushed to think how once she had taken it for granted that, if she made enough effort—steeled herself—it would be settled. "I know," Dame Clare said afterwards. "I was as confident. Once upon a time I even thought God had taste, choosing me!"

Dame Perpetua had been more blunt. "Weren't you surprised that God should have chosen you?" a young woman reporter, writing a piece on vocations, had asked her. "Yes," Dame Perpetua had answered, "but not nearly as surprised that he should have chosen some of the others—but then God's not as fastidious as we are."

Rumer Godden is the talented writer who provides perspective for the cloistered life that Thérèse experienced. Her insights into the rich, full life that can be had in the convent are the final antidote for those who believe otherwise.

I am no longer indifferent to St. Thérèse. She has become a solid friend who has provided good advice for overcoming my faults and loving my neighbors better. Thanks to Robert Edmonson and Rumer Godden, there are new lessons to be learned both for those who are devoted to St. Thérèse and those who are indifferent.

*Clarification
Treacle = British for molasses (sort of)

Wikipedia: The most common forms of treacle are the pale syrup that is also known as golden syrup and the darker syrup that is usually referred to as dark treacle or black treacle. Dark treacle has a distinctively strong flavour, slightly bitter, and a richer colour than golden syrup,[3] yet not as dark as molasses.

Feast Day of St. Jerome, The Thunderer

Niccolò Antonio Colantonio, showing St. Jerome's removal of a thorn from a lion's paw. Source.

I interpret as I should, following the command of Christ: Search the Scriptures, and Seek and you shall find. Christ will not say to me what he said to the Jews: You erred, not knowing the Scriptures and not knowing the power of God. For if, as Paul says, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and if the man who does not know Scripture does not know the power and wisdom of God, then ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.

Read more at Crossroads Initiative

I do not have that "friendly feeling" with St. Jerome that I have with many other saints. However, I do love the fact that he was well known to be cantankerous and had to fight his temper constantly. It gives me that fellow feeling of someone who has to fight the same failings I do. I also highly respect him for his supreme love of Scripture as the path to God. (Protestants should enjoy this Church Father's works for that very reason.)

This might be the best short summary I've ever seen of St. Jerome's life, and, specifically, why he is such a good patron saint for us bloggers.

He was a great scholar. He knew many languages. He fact-checked against original sources. He supported and was supported by fearless, scholarly and religious women. He successfully fought against the world, the flesh and the Devil.

And dang, did he understand flamewars.

Aliens in This World

Here is a wonderful poem about St. Jerome which is both accurate and hilarious. My favorite sort of poem, in fact. If you read this out loud you will get the most benefit from it.

THE THUNDERER
From "Times Three" by Phyllis McGinley

God’s angry man, His crotchety scholar
Was Saint Jerome,
The great name-caller
Who cared not a dime
For the laws of Libel
And in his spare time
Translated the Bible.
Quick to disparage
All joys but learning
Jerome thought marriage
Better than burning;
But didn’t like woman’s
Painted cheeks;
Didn’t like Romans,
Didn’t like Greeks,
Hated Pagans
For their Pagan ways,
Yet doted on Cicero all of his days.

A born reformer, cross and gifted,
He scolded mankind
Sterner than Swift did;
Worked to save
The world from the heathen;
Fled to a cave
For peace to breathe in,
Promptly wherewith
For miles around
He filled the air with
Fury and sound.
In a mighty prose
For Almighty ends,
He thrust at his foes,
Quarreled with his friends,
And served his Master,
Though with complaint.
He wasn’t a plaster sort of a saint.

But he swelled men’s minds
With a Christian leaven.
It takes all kinds
To make a heaven.

Read a summary of St. Jerome's life and work at Catholic Culture.

Feast of the Archangels

I love this hymn because it not only informs us about the archangels, it shows how they can work in our lives to bring us closer to God.

We honor you with hymns of praise,

O great Archangels, on this feast,

whose glorious light in vast array

reveals your rank in heaven’s court.

O Michael, Prince of heaven’s host,

whose flashing sword no foe can foil,

by your right hand give strength and pow’r,

that grace from God may do its work.

O Gabriel, whom God once chose

to herald myst’ries from on high,

help us to love and choose the paths

that ever shine with holy light.

O Raphael, draw near to us

and all who seek their heav’nly home;

drive from the body all disease

and bring true health to mind and soul.

And you, O dazzling angel hosts,

draw near and bring your heav’nly aid,

that we may find eternal joy

and blessing in your company.

All honor to the most high God,

the Father, Son, and Paraclete,

whom angel choirs with one accord

extol in song for evermore. Amen.

Liturgy of the Hours, Matins Hymn: Festiva vos archangeli

St. Michael the Archangel

St. Gabriel the Archangel

St. Raphael the Archangel

All art by Deacon Lawrence Klimecki 

The liturgy for today celebrates the feast of the three archangels who have been venerated throughout the history of the Church, Michael (from the Hebrew Who is like God?) is the archangel who defends the friends of God against Satan and all his evil angels. Gabriel, (the Power of God), is chosen by the Creator to announce to Mary the mystery of the Incarnation. Raphael, (the Medicine of God), is the archangel who takes care of Tobias on his journey.

In Conversation With God : Feast Days July - December

I have a special fondness for angels and it is a sign of my Catholic geekiness, I suppose, that I got an excited "Christmas morning" sort of thrill when I realized today's feast.

I read for the first time about angels when we were in the hospital with my father-in-law after his stroke. That made a big impression on me at the time. I always attribute the miracle that happened to the Holy Family but the angels are divine messengers and so have their place in it as well. Because of that I always have remembered that we can call not only on our friends for intercessory prayer, but also on angels for intercession and help. The prayer to St. Michael is one of my favorites.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray. And do thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl around the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Some more on angels.

You should be aware that the word "angel" denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels.

From a homily by Pope Saint Gregory the Great

Read more about angels at Catholic Culture.

Keeping a promise to my mother — Barbara Austin, rest in peace

God did not say you will not be troubled,

You will not be belabored,

You will not be disquieted,
But God said, You will not be overcome.

Julian of Norwich

My mother moved in with us on Labor Day Weekend 2019. It began as a sudden thought from Rose about how my mother would love life in a family, quickly took on steam, and within a couple of months we were all thrust into a six year adventure. She had moved a lot in her later years and was tearful over moving yet another time, especially to another state. 

I promised her that she would never have to move again, that she would die in her own bedroom. There was always the niggling thought in the back of my mind that circumstances might make me break that promise. Alzheimer's, for example, would be something we probably wouldn't be able to care for if it arose. 

But God was good. We did face obstacles but in the end — we kept that promise. My mother died peacefully, in her sleep — in her own bedroom early Sunday morning.

It was good for my mother to live in a family. She loved the dogs, welcomed with joy two new great-grandchildren, played a vigorous game of Scrabble, and got us to watch Chiefs football. I can safely say that she watched more Indian movies than any other woman her age not connected to India. She gave us new eyes with her deep love of beauty and notice of tiny details that had escaped us. In short, she was woven into our family's fabric.

Watching the total eclipse of the sun — just one more family activity

The inspiration and timing for the move were such that we felt it was inspired by the Holy Spirit. We knew that meant this was going to be good for us as well as for her. Boy howdy, was it. We recognized many moments of personal growth along the way. I myself learned to trust Jesus in ways more basic and deep than I had before. This covered everything from the little nagging problems of life to the harrowing times of her various illnesses, especially in the last two months.

We learned to serve in a way we never would have otherwise. She and I were like the odd couple in many ways. We squabbled, we struggled, we adapted to each other's ways and needs. My husband and daughter were valiant support during all situations. And we grew — in patience, in selflessness, in sacrifice — in love. 

I love looking back and seeing that we needed the previous six years of baby steps as my mom's needs grew so that we could dive in at the end with intensive care. This was God's wise plan. We needed that slow training. It prepped us to be a tight-knit "team of three," in the last two months of hospice in our home. 

I love how my mother worked hard so that she never had to move. She did exercises to stay strong for living at home. She ate much more protein than she wanted for the same reason. She made many adaptations to family life. It wasn't easy but now that she's gone, I'm able to say, "We did it, Mom! Together!"

I love the idea that we learned how important it is to be part of a family from youngest to oldest — all taking care of each other. We couldn't have really learned that lesson any other way than to simply live it.

God answered so many prayers in those last days, not least of which was my mother dying peacefully in her sleep with no pain.

The last two weeks of caring for my completely helpless mother brought me to a new level of love. On the phone with my sister after my mother died, I realized that I was standing at her bedside, stroking her hair as I talked. It was how I had shown her love during her two months of being bedbound and eventually losing speech. It seemed natural even after death.

In the last moments before her body was taken away, we were left alone with her. Again I stroked her hair, I kissed her forehead for a last time. Instead of my usual "Sweet dreams" I said nothing. It was all said. 

During my struggles this last year a priest had advised me to ask Jesus to let me feel in my body the love that Jesus himself felt for my mother. It was a prayer that I turned to many times. When I was saying that final goodbye to my mother's body, I realized that prayer had been answered. 

She and I had a long journey getting there. Sometimes we were troubled. We were belabored. We were disquieted. But through God's grace we were not overcome.  I am forever grateful.

Barbara Austin

August 5, 1934 - September 21, 2025

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her.
May her soul and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.

Like the seed buried in the ground,
you have produced the harvest of eternal life for us;
make us always dead to sin and alive to God.
Amen.

Boys Herding Donkeys

Willem Maris, Boys herding donkeys

Cat on a Flowerbed

Bruno Liljefors, Cat on a Flowerbed (or in a Meadow), 1887

St. Pio's Feast Day

I will stand at the gates of Heaven and I will not enter until all of my spiritual children are with me.

Today is St. Pio's feast day. I just love this guy, an Italian priest who knew how to throw his head back and laugh, who would scold a famous actress for being shallow, who suffered the stigmata for over 50 years, who knew (and could see) his guardian angel from the time he was a tiny child, who could bilocate and read souls, who was one of the greatest saints in living memory ... and who I share a birthday with (although his was 70 years earlier - May 25).

Finally I have found the original photo which attracted me to him when I was leafing through a book of saints in our church's library ... it communicates a sense of joy and light-heartedness that was striking. I thought, "Now there is someone I could talk to...that is what a real saint should look like."

Deacon Greg Kandra has, in years past, featured a 2009 homily he gave focusing on Padre Pio and tells this story which reflects the saint's fine sense of humor and irony.

One of my favorite stories about him happened during the early 1960s.

Italy was in crisis. The Red Brigade was sparking violence in Rome, and it was considered dangerous to travel around the country. For protection, people began carrying pictures of Padre Pio.

During this time, Padre Pio had to leave his village to visit Rome, and one of the other friars asked him, “Aren’t you worried about the Red Brigade?”

“No,” he said. “I have a picture of Padre Pio.”

Here is an extremely brief and incomplete look at the saint, which nonetheless is not a bad summary.

While praying before a cross, he received the stigmata on 20 September 1918, the first priest ever to be so blessed. As word spread, especially after American soldiers brought home stories of Padre Pio following WWII, the priest himself became a point of pilgrimage for both the pious and the curious. He would hear confessions by the hour, reportedly able to read the consciences of those who held back. Reportedly able to bilocate, levitate, and heal by touch. Founded the House for the Relief of Suffering in 1956, a hospital that serves 60,000 a year. In the 1920's he started a series of prayer groups that continue today with over 400,000 members worldwide.

You can read more about Padre Pio here.

Falling Leaves

Falling Leaves, Olga Wisinger-Florian. Via Lines and Colors

It never looks like this in Dallas during September. It does in Kansas and that's what I remember when I look at this painting.

TV You Might Have Missed 15: Peter Gunn

Peter Gunn is a private investigator in a nameless waterfront city who uses Mother's jazz club as his "office." He's modeled on Cary Grant and it shows. Suave and debonaire, he's also handy with a gun and can trade punches with the best of them. A spare case of regulars include the sultry jazz singer Edie as Gunn's girlfriend, tough but classy broad Mother, and cynical Lieutenant Jacoby as a friendly police contact.

My parents loved Peter Gunn and had the soundtrack by Henry Mancini. Indeed, you usually only hear this series mentioned because of Mancini (with Johnny Williams on piano) but the show is well worth watching for the half-hour bites of cool film noir.  It was created and written by Blake Edwards in the days before his movie directing. 

The excellent acting, interesting stories, creative camera angles and shadows, and snappy dialogue make each episode a pleasure. There's not a lot of time to develop intricate plots but the variety and atmosphere make it a pleasure.

Saints Andrew Kim Taegon, Paul Chong Hasang, and Companions

I just love the example set by these holy lay people!

The Korean Church is unique because it was founded entirely by lay people. This fledgling Church, so young and yet so strong in faith, withstood wave after wave of fierce persecution. Thus, in less than a century, it could boast of 10,000 martyrs. The death of these martyrs became the leaven of the Church and led to today's splendid flowering of the Church in Korea. Even today their undying spirit sustains the Christians in the Church of silence in the north of this tragically divided land.

St. John Paul II, canonization Mass in Seoul

Definitely go read the whole thing. It is moving and inspiring. I love the example of Agatha Yi.

And what did the seventeen-year-old Agatha Yi say when she and her younger brother were falsely told that their parents had betrayed the faith? "Whether my parents betrayed or not is their affair. As for us, we cannot betray the Lord of heaven whom we have always served". Hearing this, six other adult Christians freely delivered themselves to the magistrate to be martyred. Agatha, her parents and those other six are all being canonized today. In addition, there are countless other unknown, humble martyrs who no less faithfully and bravely served the Lord.

========

Excerpted from the Saint of the Day, Leonard Foley, O.F.M.

The first native Korean priest, Andrew Kim Taegon was the son of Christian converts. Following his baptism at the age of 15, Andrew traveled 1,300 miles to the seminary in Macao, China. After six years, he managed to return to his country through Manchuria. That same year he crossed the Yellow Sea to Shanghai and was ordained a priest. Back home again, he was assigned to arrange for more missionaries to enter by a water route that would elude the border patrol. He was arrested, tortured, and finally beheaded at the Han River near Seoul, the capital.

Andrew’s father Ignatius Kim, was martyred during the persecution of 1839, and was beatified in 1925. Paul Chong Hasang, a lay apostle and married man, also died in 1839 at age 45.

Among the other martyrs in 1839 was Columba Kim, an unmarried woman of 26. She was put in prison, pierced with hot tools and seared with burning coals. She and her sister Agnes were disrobed and kept for two days in a cell with condemned criminals, but were not molested. After Columba complained about the indignity, no more women were subjected to it. The two were beheaded. Peter Ryou, a boy of 13, had his flesh so badly torn that he could pull off pieces and throw them at the judges. He was killed by strangulation. Protase Chong, a 41-year-old nobleman, apostatized under torture and was freed. Later he came back, confessed his faith and was tortured to death.

I found the above excerpt at Catholic Culture which has more info including activities.

There is also a whole page on the Korean Martyrs at Wikipedia, which I found fascinating.

Door in Crete

Crete from Flickr's Door Pool

Lagniappe: Finishing What the Luftwaffe Started

In the 1960s the planning department of the London County Council, whose unofficial motto was Finishing What the Luftwaffe Started, decided that what London really needed was a series of orbital motorways driven through its heart.

Ben Aaronovitch, Moon Over Soho

I've been rereading this series and especially enjoying the architectural comments and the details about police work that the author includes.

One of the most unexpected elements of P.C. Grant's character in the Rivers of London series is his continual disapproval of a lot of modern architecture. There's a reason that comes to light eventually but it is funny. And pretty accurate as far as I can tell.

The Complete Encyclicals of John Paul II

This was a long term project that lasted 9 months as I read off and on. I began by learning that the papal name of John Paul I was taken in honor of Pope John Paul XXIII who opened Vatican II and Pope Paul VI who closed it and presided over the post-conciliar sorting out. So it was a statement of carrying on their work. John Paul II's taking up as successor shows up in these writings. I loved knowing that and seeing how important Vatican II was in every single encyclical. It turns out if we love JPII, it's because we also love Vatican II, even if we don't realize it.

1. Redemptor Hominis (Redeemer of Man), 1979
This was the first encyclical of John Paul II's pontificate. I was surprised to see how strongly he linked everything to Vatican II. It wasn't strong-armed in, just a continual touchpoint as he touched on the special needs of our times and the truth about man's nature and our relationship to Jesus. As JPII says, "Christ the Redeemer fully reveals man to himself." A rich reflection that is still very relevant to our time.

2. Dives in Misericordia (Rich in Mercy), 1980
This continues linking back to Vatican II. It is a continuation of the Pope's thought from Redemptor Hominis as he draws attention to how Christ shows us God's mercy. I especially loved how he traced the concept of mercy in the Old Testament through events where many terms showed the richness of how mercy can be revealed and felt. The reflection on the parable of The Prodigal son led directly to how receiving mercy grants human dignity to the giver, just as giving mercy grants human dignity to the recipient. As a Vincentian, this has special meaning for me.

3. Laborem Exercens (Through Work), 1981
This was much less interesting to me as the pope worked his way through things like solidarity, unions, materialism, etc. We've heard so much about such things since this was written that a lot of it was very familiar. However, something that was not familiar gave me much food for thought. Pointing out that from the beginning man is called on by God to work, he then says:

Work is one of the characteristics that distinguish man from the rest of creatures, whose activity for sustaining their lives cannot be called work. Only man is capable of work, and only man works, at the same time by work occupying his existence on earth. Thus work bears a particular mark of man and of humanity, the mark of a person operating within a community of persons. And this mark decides its interior characteristics; in a sense it constitutes its very nature.

This never occurred to me, that man is the only creature who works. That work is one of the things that defines humanity and individuals.

4. Slavorum Apostoli (The Apostles of the Slavs), 1985
This was written to highlight the evangelizing work of Saints Cyril and Methodius who came up with an alphabet for Slavic languages, translated the Gospels, and lived among the Slavic people to share the faith. It was interesting history and I especially liked JPII's repeated point that the saints had to learn to love the people and culture from the inside out so they would understand how best to explain God in a way that was familiar to the people. It's a tried and true method that has been used for millennium. Vatican II is referenced, as always in these encyclicals, in a way that shows its application to the past and present church as we share the gospel.

5. Dominium et Vivificantem (The Lord and Giver of Life), 1986
It is a rich reflection of the subtitle: On the Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church and the World. Simply wonderful. Solid gold.

6.> Redemptoris Mater (Mother of the Redeemer), 1987
The subtitle is On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Life of the Pilgrim Church. John Paul II had a deep devotion to Mary and it is reflected in this encyclical. We expect to hear of Mary's role in Christ's life and ministry as well as how the Second Vatican Council reflected on Mary's role in the life of the Church today, especially since JPII has had an eye to the council's contributions in every encyclical so far. What was less expected for me was that he was primarily considering Mary's personal pilgrimage of faith as she journeyed with her son. I'd never considered that aspect of Mary's life and how it also can help us along the way. There were many insightful moments in this which really affected me. Highly recommended.

7. Solicitudo Rei Socialis (The Social Concern), 1987
This encyclical was published for the 20th Anniversary of Populorum Progressio (On the Development of Peoples) by Pope Paul VI. It covered social justice of the time and in many ways this encyclical is an update of those topics. It was interesting to see how different many of our issues are and, yet, also how they are just the same. These days there is a focus on social justice in both society and the Church that makes me tired when I think of the topic. I skimmed through this and found some interesting reflections but in many ways we all know the basics of what this encyclical covers.

8. Redemptoris Missio (Mission of the Redeemer), 1990
The subtitle is "On the Permanent Validity of the Church's Missionary Mandate" and that's really what this covers. As with some of the others, this is long ago enough that we know the basics but there were many nuggets that broadened my thinking. One example is when he mentions St. Paul in Athens at the Areopagus proclaiming the Gospel to the people in terms of their gods. (A favorite story of mine.) Then he says the modern Areopagus is the world of communications. This is before social media, but JPII is right on point. I actually gasped seeing the connection.

9. Centesimus Annus (on the Hundredth Anniversary of Rerum Novarum), 1991
It addresses social justice, economic systems, and human rights, particularly in the context of the collapse of communism. It was interesting and I particularly enjoyed his reflections that "the fundamental error ofsocialism is anthropological in nature" because it considers individuals simply as an element within the social organization. And Christians can never forget the human person as an individual.

10. Veritatis Splendor (Splendor of Truth), 1993
Subtitled "On Some Fundamental Questions of the Church's Moral Teaching" and it lives up to its name on so many levels. This is an amazing work of theology and examination of our modern culture, especially in regards to relativism. Sadly, it rings even truer today when the natural progression of relativism has left many people divorced from the ability to tell what is true from what isn't.

11. Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life), 1995
The subtitle reads: On the Value and Inviolability of Human Life. It is the natural follow-up to Veritatis Splendor. The primary victim of relativism is the lowered opinion of the inestimable value of human life, in all its stages. This has continued unabated since this encyclical came out, unfortunately. JPII's words continue to ring out with inspiration and encouragement to live this truth in our lives as a blazing witness to our society and our world.

12. Ut Unam Sint (That They May Be One), 1995
The call for Christian unity as a response to Christ's prayer to the Father before his passion is here examined as only JPII can do. He would have felt this very strongly in the time in which he wrote. I found the section on the fruits of dialogue especially good since it is so often that we must talk, meet face to face, and experience for ourselves the people from whom we are separated. Not really a topic that I care about as much as some others, but well worth reading.

13. Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason), 1998
JPII himself says this is the follow-up to Splendor of Truth and that's obvious to anyone who has read both encyclicals. It's a deep dive into philosophy and theology, specifically Catholic theology to see where faith and reason intersect and support each other. It examines how we can trust the answers to the questions every human has had throughout time — "Who am I? Where have I come from and where am I going? Why is there evil? What is there after this life? ... In fact the answer given to these questions decides the direction which people seek to give to their lives." This is simply superb.

14. Ecclesia de Eucharistia (Ecclesia de Eucharistia), 2003
The subtitle is On the Eucharist in Its Relationship to the Church. This encyclical opens "The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith, but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church. In a variety of ways she joyfully experiences the constant fulfilment of the promise: “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20), but in the Holy Eucharist, through the changing of bread and wine into the body and blood of the Lord, she rejoices in this presence with unique intensity. " John Paul II examines this from every angle and it is an inspiring reminder of who we are and why we love the Eucharist.

Carrington Album

Carrington Illuminated Appreciation Album Cover
via BibliOdyssey

What a heckuva fella Lord Carrington must have been! BibliOdyssey tells us:

From 1885 to 1890 Lord Carrington was a popular Governor of NSW. He and his wife were held in such high regard by the people of NSW [Australia] that a grand series of presentation albums was created by various community associations and districts to honour their service and bid them farewell when they returned to England at the end of their tenure.

Go read all about it and see the many gorgeous album pages and covers featured there.

Signs and Wonders

Roses in a Cobalt Vase by Alexis Kreyder

SEPTEMBER 17

OUR FAMILY'S MEMORIAL OF MARY'S MIRACULOUS ROSE

Today a single, pink rose sits in a vase in front of our statues of the Holy Family and Mary, next to a small jar that contains dried rose petals. It is our tribute to a miracle that Tom and I experienced.

We told a few people soon after it happened on Sept. 17, 2001. They greeted this story with reactions of belief or skepticism depending on their natures. I told my CRHP retreat team when we shared our faith experiences with each other. Later I was privileged to share this as part of my witness to the next CRHP team during the retreat we held for them. Now I am sharing the story here and you may make of it what you will. All I know is that it happened and was miraculous enough to render my extremely practical, very Catholic husband speechless.

I could write much more than anyone would care to read and not be able to convey all the memories and emotions that this day holds for me of that time. Below is part of the witness I shared.

It has seemed good to me to publish the signs and wonders which the most high God has accomplished in my regard. (Daniel, Chapter 3, Verse 99)

When Tom and I went to Houston on the Friday after his father had his stroke, we were in for a terrible shock. We had been told the stroke was minor but, in fact, it was major. We checked into a hotel that adjoined the hospital and never stepped outside again until we left on Monday afternoon. There were many moments of total despair and raw emotion … it was a terrible time. I prayed ceaselessly and finally threw myself at the feet of the Holy Family. It was a huge moment of realization for me ... I will never forget sitting there realizing that we were totally helpless and only God has control.

Finally Tom’s father seemed to improve and we were really happy as we got ready to leave. As Tom drove the car around to where I was waiting with the luggage, I saw a flash of pink. A friend had given me a rose to take to Tom’s mother. It was just opening perfectly when we arrived. I left the rose in the car thinking I would give it to her later. Of course, the way things turned out we hadn't been back to the car the whole time. That rose had been forgotten in a closed car in a parking garage in 90° weather for close to 4 days.

When I walked around to my side of the car, I told Tom, “I forgot all about that rose. There’s a trash can over there. I'll throw it away.” He just looked at me and said, “Julie, you’re not going to believe your eyes.” and opened my door so I could see. The rose was perfect. It had not changed a bit since we left it in the car. It was unwilted and the heart was just opening. It was as if time had stood still. I held it on my lap all the way back to Dallas and in a half an hour it had wilted to exactly the state I expected to find it in originally. It was like watching time lapse photography in front of our eyes.