Per Christum

I’d like to introduce you to my new friend, Gianna Molla, in anticipation of her fourth feast day, which the church celebrates tomorrow, April 28.  I like this saint, because I think a lot of modern women can relate to her. Like so many out there, Gianna was a working mom.

Gianna Beretta Molla was born in Italy on October 4, 1922.  From childhood, she served God faithfully. She graduated from the University of Pavia with a medical degree in surgery with honors.  She opened a clinic with her brother, and since she loved babies, she obtained a certificate in pediatrics.  She later married Peter Molla, an engineer, in 1955.

Before she was married, she ministered to young girls through Catholic Action, a group involved with catechesis of young people.  She once said something to the girls, which would prove to some day be tested.  She said: 

“Eternal and earthly happiness depends on the fulfillment of your vocation. Your vocation is one to a material, spiritual and moral maternity, because God has placed in us an inclination to life.

“Each of us should make room for our vocation, for the giving of life.  If, perchance, we may have to die while carrying out our vocation, that would be the most beautiful day of our lives.”

Well, Gianna wanted a big family. She and Peter had a son, Pierluigi, then two daughters, Mariolina and Laura, followed by two miscarriages.  In the summer of 1961, Gianna became pregnant with another child.

Within two months, Gianna developed a large tumor in her uterus that threatened both her life and the life of her baby.  Her doctor advised her to have an abortion in order to save her life.  Instead, she opted for a riskier surgery that would remove the tumor to protect the baby while leaving her own life at risk.

The operation was successful in preserving her baby’s life, but as her pregnancy continued, Gianna had a premonition of what was to come.  She was ready to sacrifice her life so that her child could live.

A few days before the baby was due, she told her husband:  “If you must decide between me and the child, do not hesitate: Choose the child; I insist on it.  Save the baby!”

On Holy Saturday, 1962, after a Caesarian section, Gianna gave birth to a healthy baby girl weighing nearly 10 pounds.  The child was named Gianna as well.  (Today, “little” Gianna is also a medical doctor, a gerontologist.)

That same day, the mother’s condition began to deterioriate.  She was dying of septic peritonitis, an infection of the lining of the abdomen-a result of her choice to preserve the life of her child.  Gianna died a week later on April 28, 1962 (now her feast day).

Many saints aren’t formally recognized by the Church until centuries after their death.  But Gianna’s cause for canonization began within three decades after she died.  The miracles necessary for the process occurred in a relatively short period of time, so that her husband, three surviving children and siblings were all able to attend her canonization by Pope John Paul II on May 16, 2004.

Perhaps our God is trying to promote Gianna’s message of holiness in everyday life to our troubled world at this crucial time, in this culture of death.

Read more about Gianna here.

Prayer of Saint Gianna
Jesus, I promise You to submit myself to all that You permit to befall me,
make me only know Your will.
My most sweet Jesus, infinitely merciful God, most tender Father of souls,
and in a particular way of the most weak, most miserable, most infirm
which You carry with special tenderness between Your divine arms,
I come to You to ask You, through the love and merits of Your Sacred Heart,
the grace to comprehend and to do always Your holy will,
the grace to confide in You,
the grace to rest securely through time and eternity in Your loving divine arms.

- Abridged/adapted from article by Joseph Cunningham, J.D. - The Catholic Answer - November/December 2005 Edition

Every once in a while I stumble on a blog and think “why didn’t I think of that?!” This happened today when I discovered a new blog, Catholic Cuisine. For those of us looking for ways to incorporate the Church Year into our everyday lives, this site will be a great source of recipes and ideas. You may recognize one of its contributors; Jennifer from Family in Feast and Feria, another blog I’ve found to be a great help in my quest to develop our Domestic Church.

If cooking is not your style, how about some Carmelite roasted coffee? That’s right, the Carmelite Monks of Wyoming roast and distribute Mystic Monk Coffee. You can even get a double-handled Carmelite mug. The best part is your money supports the Monks while supporting your caffeine addiction!

I aways get a good chuckle this time of year. It seems like all the Catholics come out of the woodwork, and suddenly they can’t eat this or that because they gave it up for Lent.

Giving something up for Lent is one of the last vestiges of the Domestic Church in America. Of course there is no rule in the Catholic Church that you have to give something up for Lent. Catholics are more likely to show up to an Ash Wednesday Mass than on January 1st for Mary, Mother of God. It seems that society barely gains anything from these sacrifices, except maybe the fast food chains, who bring out their seldom seen fish sandwiches. But it survives. I have a few theories why, but in the end it comes from tradition (little t).

I know many people say “the family that prays together stays together,” but I think as Catholics we are encouraged to take this a step or two further. Praying is just one important component of the Catholic home. We have so many wonderful traditions that are being ignored and slowly fading away. And yet I’ve heard many people lament that their children leave the Catholic Church when they enter college. Some of these people I know well, others I can only guess what happens in the family home. But from experience, I’m guessing that their homes have a similar make-up: church is reserved for Sundays, and religion is something to be covered only in religion classes. Feasts come, and unless society covers them, they pass forgotten. We need to bring the Church home with us.

Lately, I’ve been trying to remember customs that my family practiced in my childhood. As the years progressed, my family simplified our celebrations so much that I hardly remember details. Because David and I firmly believe in teaching our children to celebrate Catholic feasts in the home, I’ve been doing research to fill the holes in my memory. Some of the traditions I do remember include Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday, Butter Lamb on Easter (you can still get these in several Cleveland, Ohio grocery stores), and celebrating Saint or Name days. A great idea I’ve come across recently is creating Easter Vigil Notebooks. Its a great way for young children to participate in Lent and prepare for the Easter Vigil. Yes, I just mentioned children at the Vigil. The notebook not only teaches children about the Vigil, but provides them with something concrete to look at while attending the Vigil. Another idea, found on Mommy Life, is an Easter cookie recipe complete with scripture readings, to help explain the Triduum.

For anyone who might also be interested in developing their domestic church, here are a few sources I’ve found helpful. (Besides our very own ChurchYear.net. :) ) I’ve been reading Around the Year with the Trapp Family, by Maria Augusta Trapp. The actual book is no longer in print but EWTN has provided the text on their site. The Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions covers the basics of each season and provides craft ideas. I’ve also found several blogs such as Family in Feast and Feria, Family Food for Feast and Feria, Simple Gifts, and In the Heart of my Home. And of course, since I love to cook, Cooking with the Saints by Ernst Schuegraf, which has been a great source for celebrating Saint Feast days or Name days.

What books or sites would you recommend? Traditions?

Cat courtesy of Lolcats ‘n’ Funny Pictures.

Lamb courtesy of Forgotten Buffalo.

Hello my brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ!I would like to share this youtube video with you.

St. Ann instructing Mother Mary in the ways of the LORD.

The relationship between the vocation of family life and the celibate vocations are well connected. Priests don’t just appear out of no where. They are, often, the sons of devout Catholic fathers.

In some circles, the sight of a pious young man who is single and church attending occasions considerable excitement: perhaps we have a future priest here!

But with American Catholic birthrates being exceedingly low in most sectors, and the need for greater rejuvenation and renewal in parochial family life still pressing, sometimes, that pious, young, single, church-going man actually needs to be introduced to a pious, young, single, church-going lady, to meet, marry, and make some Catholic bambinos, and make their spiritual journey together for life.

In a real way, the wrongly termed “vocations crisis” is well related to the wrongly termed “marriage crisis”. There is certainly correlation between healthy Catholic families and vocations. More failed marriages = fewer vocations.

For your consideration, dear readers, I give you: Marriage And Celibacy: Love’s Link: Interview With Author Father José Manglano. By Miriam Díez i Bosch.

MADRID, Spain, JAN. 14, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Father José Pedro Manglano says history has shown that when marriages are in crisis, the vocation to celibacy also has problems.

The priest speaks of the link between matrimony and celibacy in his new book, “El Amor y Otras Idioteces: Guía Práctica Para No Perder a Quien Tú Quieres” (Love and Other Foolishness: A Practical Guide to Avoid Losing Your Beloved).

In this interview with ZENIT, Father Manglano explains what true love is, and how it can become eternal.

Q: A priest speaking about “love and other foolishness” — this attracts attention …

Father Manglano: How funny that you start there! That’s what everyone asks me …

Q: But I insist, it isn’t common …

Father Manglano: Quite true. It’s obvious that it’s something that attracts attention. But, why is it the first question that comes to mind? Perhaps what is being asked could be rephrased: What can a celibate have to say about love? As if it is taken for granted that one who opts to be celibate makes himself a stranger to the question of love.

It seems to me that this seemingly unimportant fact points to a situation clearly spelled out in Benedict XVI’s “The Salt of the Earth”: History shows that in the eras in which marriages are in crisis, celibacy is as well.

Q: Why does a celibacy crisis come along with a marriage crisis?

Father Manglano: Celibacy and matrimony, just as the Church suggests, are the two sublime ways of attaining a life in love. There are other forms of loving lives, yes, but no other sublime forms.

Today we are experiencing a certain crisis in marriage, and we are living a certain crisis in the meaning of celibacy. It is not understood that the celibate could be a lover and can know about love. Nevertheless, his life is a loving exercise directed toward the man Christ, and to all men and women, near or far away.

And not only that: The celibate Christian has an experience of God who is Love, and from him, he receives wisdom. If that doesn’t seem true, ask St. John of the Cross, whose canticle is a paradigm of any loving relationship.

Q: But your book speaks of the love between boy/girlfriend and spouses.(Read All)

Christmas Cards and Brotherly Love H/T: + In Hoc Signo Vinces +

I wanted to share this thought on Protestantism:

I no longer subscribe the concept of protest, which leads not only to a broken church family, but to broken families. You don’t like something, you’re outta here. The divorce rate among Protestants is the same as the divorce rate of the general population. Children feel free to abandon their families. What I’m seeing is that the Protestant ethic permeates our stance toward all the gifts God has given us in the inherited legacy of our church family. -Barbara at MommyLife.Net

She is being told to read more Martin Luther, in hopes it will help her overcome her “problem” of feeling called to the Catholic Church.

Want to read more? The adventure continues here.

I saw this and it made me chuckle with memories of watching gradeschool filmstrips. It was a treat to be the one who got to advance the filmstrip to the next frame… At least I thought it was. We were a long way from today when my nieces and nephews of the age I was then have blogs with readers in other countries.

It also sounds like the voice of the narrator is computer generated. It isn’t half as fun as the records and cassette tapes that used to accompany some of the film strips.

But the fact that these sorts of educational materials were out there, helping to educate young people on the value of large families and brothers and sisters is a telling and intersting thing. How very different is this from US culture today?

Posted over at Musings of a Pertinacious Papist:

With an eye on Russia’s dismally low birth-rate, a youth movement run by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin sponsored a “procreation camp” this past summer. Held 200 miles from Moscow, the two-week camp was reportedly attended by 10,000 uniformed youngsters. Following instructions in physical fitness and exercises, couples repaired — or should we say “paired off” — to a special part of dormitory tents arranged in the shape of a heart, which was called the “Love Oasis,” where they were encouraged to start “procreating for the motherland.” The camp culminated in a mass wedding of twenty-five couples, who were ready to make the “ultimate expression of devotion to the motherland” (The Daily Mail, July 29, 2007; quoted by Michael S. Rose in “The News You May Have Missed, New Oxford Review [October 2007], p. 37).

Read more at “Hitl … I mean Putin’s Youth (Nashi): Sex for the motherland: Russian youths encouraged to procreate at camp,” by Edward Lucas (The Postnational Monitor, July 29, 2007).

Consider also: Mother Russia now sees more abortions than babies born

Russian Abortion Killing and Sterilizing Millions; Demographic Collapse Likely to be Worse than Previously Predicted

By now, many of you know, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights is calling for the boycott of Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass. This boycott is making headlines; even the Today Show has mentioned it. If you have seen the trailers for the movie, it looks good. So why are Catholic/Christian communities in such a big uproar? Because Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy seeks to weaken or destroy a Christian child’s spirituality. This book creates a world where organized religion is corrupt, witches are heroic, and The Fall is considered the rebellion against the tyranny of the Authority.

Check out some of the characters on Wikipedia:

The Authority is the first angel created in this world. He convinces the other angels he is the Creator. He rules Cloud Mountain or the Kingdom of Heaven.

Xaphania is the angel who figures out The Authority lied. She leads the rebellion against him. She wishes to create the Republic of Heaven.

Marisa Coulter (Nicole Kidman) is a widow who works for Oxford and the Catholic Church.

Magisterium or the Church does experiments on children to separate them from their daemons (souls). The reasoning is it will prevent children from knowing sin. Coulter is in charge of these experiments.

Daemons in this series are the physical manifestation of the soul, think witch’s familiar.

Dr. Mary Malone is a physicist from “our world” and an ex-nun.

Pullman is an atheist and has even helped create a series called Why Atheism? with writer Michael Rosen. What does this have to do with his books? Everything. Just like Tolkien, Lewis, and George MacDonald put Christian themes in their books, so has he put atheistic themes in his. He weaves his story using Hebrew, Pagan, and Christian symbolism.

From an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald in 2003:

Pullman, though, expected more. “I’ve been surprised by how little criticism I’ve got. Harry Potter’s been taking all the flak. I’m a great fan of J.K. Rowling, but the people - mainly from America’s Bible Belt - who complain that Harry Potter promotes Satanism or witchcraft obviously haven’t got enough in their lives. Meanwhile, I’ve been flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God. Source: The shed where God died

From Pullman’s Q and A section on his website:

Q: What stance do the books take?

“It depicts a struggle: the old forces of control and ritual and authority, the forces which have been embodied throughout human history in such phenomena as the Inquisition, the witch-trials, the burning of heretics, and which are still strong today in the regions of the world where religious zealots of any faith have power, are on one side; and the forces that fight against them have as their guiding principle an idea which is summed up in the words The Republic of Heaven. It’s the Kingdom against the Republic.

And everything follows from that. So, for instance, the book depicts the Temptation and Fall not as the source of all woe and misery, as in traditional Christian teaching, but as the beginning of true human freedom something to be celebrated, not lamented. And the Tempter is not an evil being like Satan, prompted by malice and envy, but a figure who might stand for Wisdom.
….
And if certain Christian critics are confused by this, and imagine I’m denying the difference between good and evil, then all I can say is that I shall pray for them.”
Source: Pullman’s Q&A section.

In a recent interview with Al Roker, Pullman dances around the question about the book being anti-Catholic. Obviously, he’s heard that people don’t want to support a movie in which killing God is the objective. He now says the religion in this other world has gone bad. How bad? According to Catholic Culture:

Throughout the trilogy, priests are portrayed as evil and violent; one of them is an assassin. In contrast, an ex-nun who has lost her faith is positively portrayed. She describes Christianity as “a very powerful and convincing mistake.” The “Magisterium” kidnaps children in order to take out their souls. In the final volume, characters representing Adam and Eve kill God, who is referred to as YAHWEH.

As a Catholic blog we seek to inform our readers about a variety of topics. I wanted to do more than shake my finger saying, “bad man,” so I wanted to provide some background on the books and film. Hopefully, you now know enough to make your own decision about this series, and not boycott it simply because some prominent orthodox Catholics oppose it.

Want More?

Snopes.com on The Golden Compass

Philip Pullman “Religious Impulse” Listen to his examples.

Philip Pullman Realizes ‘Killing God’ Not the Ideal Sales Pitch

Atheism for Christmas?

“The Golden Compass: Agenda Unmasked” Catholic League

(Episcopal) Archbishop wants atheist Pullman on syllabus

photo from: About.com

We’re All Getting Married: The New Theological Synthesis

This September 2007 David and I were married with God, family, and friends as our witnesses. The weather was perfect, the food was great, and everyone seemed to have a good time. We had a beautiful wedding Mass, complete with a devotion to the Blessed Mother (and no unity candle). :D

The Mass:
Prelude: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (J.S. Bach)
O, Had I Jubal’s Lyre (G.F. Handel)
Panis Angelicus(C. Franck) (sung)

Processional: Canon in D (Pachelbel)

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 2:18-24
New Testament Reading: Romans 8:31b-35, 37-39
Gospel Reading: Mark 10:6-9

Offertory Hymn: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (select verses)
Communion Hymn: Love Divine All Loves Excelling (#429)
Devotion to Blessed Mother: Ave Maria (Schubert)
Recessional: Prelude in Classical Style (G. Young)

Our programs provided some explanation for our guests. We thought this was important because many of our guests were not Catholic. I will be posting a demo copy eventually, but it’s on a different computer.

For more details check out the extended post on Totus Tuus

H/T: Roman Catholic Vocations Blogspot

“Church short on U.S.-born ministers”
By Erin McKeon The Facts.Com ( A Texas News website???)

Published October 7, 2007In Catholic churches nationwide, immigrants are being counted on to take on a job fewer Americans have been willing to do. (Read all…)

A fair enough article overall. Not really big news to people that have been following it for some time. The article fails to mention how very typical this is of the US situation historically - we have ALWAYS had a goodly number of priests from “the other side” (as one Melkite Bishop used to refer to his Lebanese-born priests)…
In all fainess, our current American ratio of priest to laity is darn near the same as it was 100 years ago.

In actuality, our current American ratio of clergy to faithfyl - when counting America’s 16.6K perm. deacons, it is far better than it was 100 years ago.

It is also worth noting that there are about two-dozen exceptionally strong formation programs in the US at the diocesan and religious level. Should they continue to grow in the ways they have and inspire likewise among the other diocese and orders around them, I EASILY foresee a lowering of the median presbyteral age significantly in the next 20 years.

But of course, there is always room for one more soul.

I used to think that we would do well to open every bed we had in near-empty and half empty seminaries here in the US for African, Asian and Latin American Seminarians. But there is a reason a lot of those joints are half or near empty - it is probably best we don’t spread their malaise to Africa, Asia or Latin America. Americans have given VERY generously for decades and decades to the missions. It is only fitting that we now become a sort of mission territory ourselves - served by the very sons and daugters of the converts we have for decades been praying and paying to support.

But could we take a moment to consider the importance and effect of population growth on vocations? Namely, the family population.

I think there is more than a casual correlation between the rise in vocational numbers outside the US where birth rates are higher and (presumably) artificial birth control is less embraced. Humanae Vitae seems to strike again.

If we could look at some of the birt rates in some of the predominately Catholic countries that are non-European.

(births per 1,000 population)
Venezuela 21.22Argentina 16.53
Ecuador 21.91 births
Brazil 16.3 births
El Salvador 26.13 births
Belize 28.34 births
Costa Rica 18.02 births
Honduras 27.59 births
Nicaragua 24.12 births
Panama 21.45 births
Bolivia 22.82 births
Chile 15.03 births
Colombia 20.16 births
Ecuador 21.91 births
Guyana 18.09 births
Paraguay 28.77 births
Peru 20.09 births
Suriname 17.31 births
Uruguay 14.41 births
Philippines 24.48 births

CIA Factbook on birthrates

This is a fascinating article on the Catholic Green movement from 1930-1950. Not an light read, but it offeres much food for thought.

Well before the Second Vatican Council, there were efforts being made to develop an amazing array of ideas on social thought. In my opinion, a lot of the good and orthodox efforts got hijacked by some rather outlandish ideas. From time to time, it is interesting to take a look back and see what we can about those earlier efforts. What do you think? THE GREENING OF AMERICA, CATHOLIC STYLE, 1930–1950
CHRISTOPHER HAMLIN AND JOHN T. McGREEVY

ABSTRACT
This article examines the rise and fall of the “green revolution” philosophy developed by the National Catholic Rural Life Conference in the 1930s as a distinct strain of American environmentalism. After reviewing the evolution of the approach, its maturation around 1940, and its postwar marginalization, the article focuses on three aspects of the NCRLC. First is its ideology, as a “third way,” a distributist alternative to socialism and capitalism. Second is the attempt to foster sustainable agricultural technologies by creating communitarian institutions in which the parish priest was central and by bringing an agrarian curriculum into Catholic higher education. Third is the attempt to ground this orientation toward sustainability in a distinctly Catholic nature spirituality, based on cyclicity rather than space.

SHOULD STUDENTS OF AMERICAN environmental history study John Rawe along with John Muir? Rawe, a midwestern Jesuit priest, described his vision of a “green revolution” in 1936.1 It was a profoundly different vision from the input-intensive agriculture which that term would come to signify in the 1950s and 1960s.

It is a green revolution because it is far removed from any battleground
reddened by the selfish blood of class hatred, far removed from the red rags of Communistic tyranny and the wriggling swastikas of frenzied dictatorships. It is a green revolution because it takes place out in the green fields where the land, owned by the patient, productive, profitable, democratic, free, personal laborer is blessed and gladdened with the divine benedictions of life-giving moisture and smiling sunshine. It is a green revolution because it deals with deep planting and sturdy growth and not with wanton destruction and economic ruin; because it buries its roots in the soil, broken for cultivation and divided for ownership in such a way that human nature, individual and social, can grow to a bountiful maturity in sufficient prosperity, wider freedom, wholesale family life, and a closer union with the eternal God and fellow man in religion, in the arts, in culture, in work, in the whole of life.2 1

What Rawe and coauthor Monseigneur Luigi Ligutti called “America’s Third Struggle for Freedom” will seem strikingly familiar to the modern green regionalism espoused by the farmer-essayist Wendell Berry and others in the 1960s.3 This green revolution was agrarianism with a twist. As well as arguing that the most stable and democratic social order was that based in family farming, its adherents celebrated the uniquely humanizing interaction with nature that such settled living brought in its train and they sought the sustainable technologies that such a way of living would entail.4 But their concern was less with the structural foundations of a purified democracy than with creation of a stable and Catholic American class of peasant-proprietors. Its precedents and rationales came less from Jefferson and Roman republicanism than from German and Belgian agrarianism as well as from St. Benedict, Thomas Aquinas, and various papal encyclicals.5 It was promoted by a group of social-theorist priests of whom Rawe was the most profound and visionary. Theirs was an environmentalism (using the term advisedly) of the Midwest, for (and occasionally of) farmers, of work rather than leisure. Their outlook was unapologetically anthropocentric. They used the terms “environment,” “stewardship,” and “organic,” but not quite as we use them now. The crisis that concerned them was in the first place social and structural—a crisis of a “mechanized and commercialized agriculture” resting upon a “finance capitalism” that was blind to the moral value of family and subsistence farming.6 (Read all…)

From: http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/eh/11.3/hamlin.html