Vol5 Christmas 2013 Special Edition

REGINA Inspiring. Intelligent. Catholic.

The Christmas Edition 2013

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t may come as a surprise to Americans, but in many places in the world our Santa Claus is not the beloved old Saint we treasure. In fact, in some places outside of America Old Saint Nick has morphed into quite a sinister figure, a kind of anti-Spirit urging everyone to consume wildly.

In Germany, they call him ‘Der Weinachtsman’ -- ‘The Christmas Man” -symbol of all that is crass, commercial and exploitative of the season. Most definitely not their traditional St. Nicholas, Germans say that ‘The Christmas Man’ originated on the nostalgic Coca Cola bottles of the 1980s. (You know, the cane sugar Coke that Americans are only permitted to buy at Christmas, but which is widely available in the rest of the world.)

In Italy, the Spirit of Santa Claus is rampant, as Italians shop til they drop until the very last moment. Under pressure from Nonna, a few may still attend Christmas Eve Mass, but the major emphasis of ‘Natale’ these days is -- you guessed it -- the food. Oh, and the ferrying of the one child they have between Mama and Papa, divorced -- of course.

An English Christmas reaches back only to the 19th Century, as it turns out.

It took Charles Dickens to bring Christmas back in fashion, after the dour Puritans and greedy industrialists had all but killed the Feast. (More on this in Michael Durnan’s excellent piece in this issue.) Today, Christmas and Boxing Day reflect the realities of a post-Empire Britain, where nominal Catholics make up less than 10% of the population -- and practicing Catholics, far less.

REGINA Editor Beverly De Soto Writers Donna Sue Berry Beverly De Soto Amy Proctor Michael Durnan Anya Proctor Roseanne Sullivan Tracy O’Dwyer Angie Gadacz Camille Loccisano David Bellusci, O.P., Ph.D. Parnell Donahue, MD. Enzo G. Selvaggi

Style Section Designed by Sammi Loman Photography Credits: Phil Roussin Amy Proctor Roseanne Sullivan Mark C. Buell Paige Arseneau

Schafphoto Harry Stevens Webmaster Jim Bryant

Layout/Graphic Designer Phil Roussin

Today, the ‘Spirit’ running rampant over Christmas is apparent across the world. Interestingly, like the notorious ‘Spirit’ of Vatican II, it’s a kind of faux Christianity.

This is the ‘holiday Spirit,’ resplendent in the trappings of a Christian feast that no one knows -- or cares -- the origin of. Shopping, partying, ‘gifting’ -- let’s face it: for most people, Christmas is about anything but Christianity.

The quaint story of the Man who claimed to be God, born among the beasts in a backwater of the Roman Empire 2000 years ago is, well, an embarrassing cliché. It’s a remnant of a simpler time, before we wielded the technology that has permitted us to arrogate to ourselves the prerogatives of God.

REGINA Magazine is a quarterly Catholic review published electronically on www.reginamag.com.

And yet -- and yet. At Christmas, even the most heedless and ‘progressive’ among us feel a pull towards -- what? Good fellowship? Charity? Most people are uncertain. Many are cynical. Some are suicidal.

We seek the Good, the Beautiful and the True – in our Tradition and with our God-given Reason. We really do believe in one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church. We are joyfully loyal to the Magisterium. We proudly celebrate our literary and artistic heritage and seek to live and teach the authentic Faith.

So, what can Catholics do in the face of this ‘holiday spirit’ juggernaut?

REGINA draws together extraordinary Catholic writers with a vibrant faith, and wide-ranging interests. We’re interested in everything under the Catholic sun — from work and family to religious and eternal life.

As always, the Church has a simple, powerful, personal answer.

Want a great Christmas 2013?

Advent is the season when we prepare a clean, warm place for Jesus in our hearts.

Light the Advent candles. Sing the ancient Advent hymns. Read the passages in the Bible to yourself, to your children and grandchildren. Darken the door of a church. Light a candle to Our Lady. Say a rosary with someone. Go to Confession. Listen to Gregorian Chant. Deliver homemade cookies to your neighbors. Tip your mailman.

Strive against that awful ‘Spirit.’

Keep a holy Advent.

And be sure to wish everyone you meet a Happy, Merry, Holy Christmas.

In Christ, Beverly De Soto Editor, Regina Magazine

Today we place REGINA under the patronage of Our Lady, Mary Most Holy. We pray that she lays our humble work at the feet of her Son, and that His Will be done.

There is no charge for REGINA. Inquiries should be directed to “Regina Magazine” on Facebook or the Editor at editor.regina@gmail.com.

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Table of Contents A Beautiful Christmas For You Ladies, Take Back your Christmas!

Holiday Looks - Are You Stylish, or Just Fashionable?

Sequoia Sierra on Style Christmas Schakalate in Italian Brooklyn Recipe: Cartellate What Christmas Dinner is all About

The Latin Mass at Christmas A Teen’s View on the Latin Mass How we Got Here

Christmas Places Historic, Beautiful, Catholic The Latin Mass Tourist: Winter at Saint Benedict Abbey Meet Me in Saint Louis What Tiny Tim Really Taught Us Christmas in Dublin Why the Christmas Tree is Christian The New Traditional Catholic Architecture Surmounting the ‘Faceless, Ominous Ramparts’ of Modernism

A Romantic Christmas Irish Christmas The Try on Wife What You Shouldn’t Sleep with your Boyfriend Catholicism 101

Transcendence: Christmas with Traditional Orders Christmas in Carmel Chicago’s Hidden Statue Conversation with a Cloistered Nun Today’s Singing Nuns

Perfectly Catholic Gifts We Are Not Worthy The Perfect Gift for a Priest Not Just Christmas Carols: William Byrd’s Secret Catholic Masterpieces

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photo by Steve Wilson

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Beautiful Christmas for You

It’s

that time of year again, when women’s magazines inundate us with psychological studies about how depressed we get at Christmas.

Why are women often so sad at Yuletide? Mostly, it seems, we are casualties of the family under attack. Many are divorced, or have lost someone to illness. Or they are estranged from their family. Or they are suddenly the sole support of a family where a husband has been taken out of the work force -- or out of their lives. Many are out of work – and down on their luck. Many women are just sick and tired, and about to give up hope.

adies,

The worst part is that all this stands in high contrast to the genuine good times that everyone else seems to be indulging in, right?

take back your

Okay, so if this sounds like YOU, you need to first check with your doctor to see if you are clinically depressed.

And regardless of whether your sadness is clinical or not, here’s some concrete steps you can take to pull yourself out of the Christmas Trap – courtesy of the Catholic Church, who brought you the real Christmas in the first place.

Christmas!

For some of us, Christmas is a time when all of life’s downers seem to crowd around like ghosts pointing accusing fingers. Some women get mad. Others get sad. Others just party frenetically.

Take a deep breath. And then take the next eight days to re-adjust your Christmas, 2013.

Eight Days to a Better, Blessed Catholic Season

by Beverly De Soto

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The First Day of Christmas: Get serious about making your season holy First, set your private Christmas goals, in a notebook reserved just for you.

Here’s some ideas:

Reduce the stress.

Observe Advent.

Treat yourself every day.

Control your Christmas spending.

Shop Catholic sources.

Focus on helping others.

Create beauty.

©photo by Jim Capaldi

The Second Day of Christmas: Reduce the Stress!

Your Christmas experience is largely in your own hands. Think about how you can reduce your stress level.

Limit or eliminate TV altogether. You don’t need the noise, the sentimental craziness, the bad evening news or the commercials. Use the time you have saved to go for a daily walk, read a book, or bake cookies. Avoid crowds and traffic jams by limiting your driving to off-hours. Driving wastes time and gas, and drives your stress levels higher. Shop online. Suggest that you share planning and expenses for Christmas events with trusted friends or family. Swap services with a good friend -- you can color her hair, and she can baby-sit your kids. Indulge in a warm bath, baking soda softens your skin, and a few drops of perfume add delightful scent. Set aside time before bed to pray.

The third Day of Christmas: Observe Advent

Since medieval times, the Church in her wisdom has helped Christians prepare for the Nativity of our Lord.

Contact your parish to see what their Advent plans are. If they are not observing the Season, find a Latin Mass parish near you at http://www.ecclesiadei.org/masses.cfm If there are communities of Religious near you, visit their chapel, especially when they pray the Divine Liturgy.

Make a good Confession at least once between December 1 and December 24.

Set aside one evening each Advent week for your private devotional time. Light a candle. Play soft Advent music. Pray a rosary. Read the Biblical accounts in Matthew, Luke and Mark.

Set up your Nativity Scene, but leave the Baby Jesus in a drawer so that the youngest family member or visitor can have the privilege of placing the Child in the manger. Take a photo and send it to them!

Invite friends or neighbors to help decorate your Tree. Play Catholic chant music and serve simple refreshments.

The Fourth Day of Christmas: Treat Yourself Every Day!

Take a walk.

Light a candle in Church.

Go to exercise or stretching class.

Shop for a new Christmas outfit in a secondhand or vintage store.

Ride your bike.

Go for a swim.

Invite a friend for coffee.

Settle in with a good book.

Get your hair done.

Buy yourself a new lipstick.

Attend a school or church Christmas concert.

You will be surprised how giving yourself a small treat every single day Go caroling.

really does improve your mood.

The Fifth Day of Christmas: Control your Christmas spending

Spending big bucks is about consumerism, not Christmas.

Focus on spending with intent, for the right reasons and to support the right people.

Instead of gifting busy friends and neighbors, give them the gift of time! Volunteer to make Christmas ornaments or cookies with their small children one afternoon. Sit with their elderly relative while they run around. Volunteer to walk their dog! Instead of meeting friends for restaurant meals, plan a potluck dinner at your place. (If you can’t cook, provide the table, the wine and the cleanup!) For wonderful, inexpensive gifts that enhance your faith and that of others, shop at online stores of Religious Orders.

Patronize your parish’s annual Christmas Bazaar. Avoid buying expensive, ready-made gift packages, bake fresh Christmas cookies instead, taking care to wrap them beautifully!

Give the gift of a FREE Regina Magazine subscription!

Glória in excélsis Deo

et in terra pax homínibus bonae voluntátis

The Sixth Day of Christmas: Shop Catholic Sources

Stop making global corporations richer. Many traditional Religious Orders and home-based businesses rely on Catholics doing their Christmas shopping at their stores – online or within their communities. And they are honest merchants, usually purveying top quality products.

Trappists, Dominicans, Benedictines, and Cistercians are just a few of the Orders who produce spectacular beer, wines, cheeses, coffee, baked goods and specialty items.

© photo by Theresa Thompson

The Seventh Day of Christmas:

Visit your local Religious communities to see if they have any products, books, rosaries and CDs are very common.

Focus on helping others

Many Catholic parishes have Christmas Bazaars with homemade items check out the websites of parishes near you!

Some parishes even have regular stores, which support their youth activities or other outreach.

There is a lot of pain in this world, and we don’t have to hop a jet to find it or spend a million to make it better. You can help your neighbors, friends and fellow parishioners with simple gestures. (Plus, it helps to get your mind off your own worries!)

Parish bake sales are a great way to pick up sweets for gifts – and for your dinner party table!

Patronize the Catholic companies you see online. (Maybe your homeschooling daughter could use some Catholic resources? Or your priest would welcome new vestments?)

Visit Regina Magazine’s Facebook Christmas Bazaar on December 14th and 15th to shop for unique gifts made by Catholic families and Religious Orders.

© photo by John Morgan

Inquire at your parish to see if they need help with events in Advent or Christmas. Is your coworker nursing a sick husband? Is your friend stressed to the max? Why not take her kids out for snow-sledding and hot chocolate? Or take her dog for a romp in the snow? Reach out to your neighbors with small gifts a homemade tin of cookies with a pretty ribbon often goes a long way! If you know a family out of work, get together with some friends and organize a surprise food shopping expedition. Five friends donating $20 each can provide a family with a whole lot of food for the holidays! Can you cook? Bake? Sew? Knit? Do crafts? How about house-cleaning? A clean house, folded laundry, a home-cooked meal, a handmade Christmas wreath, or a knitted afghan are all great lifts for families under stress during the holidays.

The Eighth Day of Christmas: Create Beauty!

Christmas is ultimately about Beauty. Now is the time for you to take a fresh look at your life, to see where you can enhance the beauty of Life and the Faith.

Gather greens and berries to fill your house with simple, fresh, fragrant Christmas decorations. Volunteer to decorate your Church for Christmas. Begin work on Christmas crafts – with friends, this is especially enjoyable. Give your home a new look for free! Use some of that time you’ve saved by turning off the TV -- re-arrange the furniture in your living room, or give one wall a fresh coat of colorful paint. Sing along with chant CDs as you drive around.

Throw a baking party! Invite friends over to make loads of cookies, sing Christmas carols and celebrate the season! If people ask what you’d like for Christmas, tell them you’re saving up to take that drawing & painting class you’ve always wanted—and that you accept donations gladly. (This will set you up nicely for the New Year!)

R.

Have Yourself A Catholic Christmas This Year Shop at Regina’s Christmas Fair!

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Style | Sequoia Sierra

Are You Stylish... or Just Fashionable?

By Sequoia Sierra

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Style | Sequoia Sierra

“WHAT IS ʻSTYLEʼ?”

UNDERSTANDING FASHION Style is timeless. Style is always -- well, in style.

Fashion, on the other hand, is impermanent. It consists of trends, fads, and it is passing. Something that is fashionable today will not necessarily be so next season. Although fashion trends do come back around, they usually do so in adaptations.

The key to being fashionable, and yet creating a timeless style for yourself, is learning how to properly mix both classic, timeless pieces with trendy looks.

Christian Dior created the pencil skirt in the1940s and it still remains stylish today.

While there are variations and fabric changes, essentially the pencil skirt has remained the same.

In its essence, it is a tted skirt that falls at or just below the knee. The only thing that will usually be different about a pencil skirt today is the fabrics and prints.

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Style | Sequoia Sierra

AVOID THE TRENDY TRAP

HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE TRENDY 60’S MOD LOOK...

ELEMENTS OF IT HAVE COME BACK INTO FASHION, BUT THIS WAS A FASHION FAD.

It is more important to look stylish than to be trendy -- especially since you will only be trendy for a short duration of time. When investing in your wardrobe, it’s wise to buy those pieces with a timeless touch. It’s also key only to buy those fashions that you feel really help to express your personality -and that you really love.

HERE ARE EXAMPLES OF TIMELESS PIECES MIXED IN WITH TRENDY COLORS, PATTERNS, AND JEWELRY...

BOTH STYLISH AND FASHIONABLE!

WHAT COCO CHANEL SAID As the great fashion and style icon Coco Chanel once said; “Fashion fades, but style remains the same.”

Take this advice to heart, and you will create a wardrobe that is uniquely you, but that will always be in style.

R.

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Style | Sequoia Sierra

Introducing the Stylist: Sequoia Sierra on Style

“BEING WELL-DRESSED IS A BEAUTIFUL FORM OF POLITENESS.” - ANONYMOUS

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Style | Sequoia Sierra prepare for work or an event, my objective is to make sure that my client's style conveys who they are and what they hope to achieve.

Q. What does costume designing involve?

A. When I do Costume Design, it can be for lm, theatre or television. I either put together wardrobes for the actors’ characters out of ready made/to wear apparel, or I can build/design them, depending upon the need of the particular show or lm. Working as a stylist

SEQUIOA SMILES in makeup with a guest and host Sharon Jimenez

Q. That sounds like a lot of work!

A. It is a lot of work and a long process from the initial idea concept to the nal product on stage or on screen. However, when it’s your passion, everything, even the stressful deadlines are a part of the fun!

WARDROBE DESIGN BY SEQUOIA for the lm "Amontillado," now in post production.

and a costume designer always requires a lot of shopping, so it’s a very fun job to have if you’re a shopaholic like me! There is also a ton of research that goes into each show or lm as all costumes MUST be accurate. Not to mention the work that goes into getting the actors together and keeping everything going smoothly on set whenever I do costuming.

SEQUOIA ON THE SET of "LA Business Today”

SEQUOIA STYLES Bob and Sharon Jimenez of the LA Business Today show.

Q. How does fashion influence Hollywood?

A. It’s hard to say whether fashion inuences lm more or if Hollywood inuences Fashion. There are certainly lines where Fashion is clearly leading in the apparel industry, yet a lot of the glamour is created by both industries. Celebrities frequent runaways and fashion shows, and many well-known designers make all the gowns worn at all the Hollywood red carpet events so there is a big area where lm and fashion intersect.

Style | Sequoia Sierra However, fashion in its basic form began with function, and so new styles and fashion are usually reinventing a piece that has a particular function. In a nutshell, both the lm and fashion industries inuence each other greatly, but fashion inuences other industries on different levels.

Q. Who are your favorite name brands and designers? And which designers are popular right now?

A. My favorites would be Temperley London, Alexander McQueen and Chanel. Kate , the Duchess of Cambridge, wears a lot of great British designers, including Temperley London and Alexander McQueen.

CLASSIC AND FRESH design by one of Sequoia's favorites,

LADYLIKE ELEGANCE is a hallmark of Sequoia's style (Temperley

BEAUTIFUL FABRICS are essential to the Temperley look that Regina

Temperley London in particular has some really beautiful feminine looks that Kate has worn, and their designs are very unique and classic. (Editor’s Note: Alice Temperley is a British designer whose ladylike fashions rst started appearing in 2003.)

Kate wears and promotes many British labels, and it seems that in addition to the incredible work coming out of the British Fashion houses, Kate has also helped to highlight the British designers. The British designers’ collections are among my favorites at the moment. Some other great brands and designers would be Anthropologie, J. Crew, St. John, and for extravagant gowns, Marchesa!

Q. Where can people find you?

A. On my Facebook page and on my website:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sequoia-

Sierra-Wardrobe-and-FashionStylist/260768203937742

 http://www.sequoiasierra.com/

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WILLIAM AND KATE in evening wear. Kate's gown is by Temperley London.

THE DUCHESS OF WINDSOR in Temperley London

R.

Christmas Schkatalata in Italian Brooklyn

by Camille Loccisano There’s no getting around it. As an ItalianAmerican, my holidays have always included great food, especially at Christmas.

I grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn — a middle-class neighborhood which nestles like a small jewel under the Verrazano Bridge. In the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s, it was home to many Italian and Irish immigrant families, and offered a harmonious life for one and all in our Catholic community.

At St. Patrick’s Grammar School, I can still recall the monthlong Advent season, with the frigid December days leading up to the breathless excitement of Christmas Eve. In every comforting classroom at St. Patrick’s, the polished oak floors were warm beneath our feet as Sister Muriel Agnes taught us about the Advent wreath. My family attended 9 a.m. Mass every Sunday morning, and I sang in the choir – ancient Catholic carols about the birth of our Savior.

In every comforting classroom at St. Patrick’s, the polished oak floors were warm beneath our feet as Sister Muriel Agnes taught us about the Advent wreath.

At home, there was a whirl of tremendous energy as we prepared for Christmas, centering on the person of Grandma Sue. When I was growing up, she lived in the ground-floor apartment of my parents’ home.

Though she was the perfect picture of an old-fashioned Italian grandmother, Grandma Sue was not actually my grandmother. Nonetheless, she was like a grandma to me in every sense of the word.

An elderly widow, Grandma Sue humbly displayed her Faith in the statues of the Blessed Mother and Saint Anthony on her simple bedroom dresser. She had experienced many tribulations in her life, including the unspeakable loss of her teenaged son to cancer.

Grandma Sue’s Big Wooden Table Yet, she was prayerful, strong and spirited. She also gave much joy to those around her. Her cozy apartment was always open to one and all in Bay Ridge, and her kitchen was one of bustling activity. Grandma Sue was a proficient and prolific cook, with lots of (mostly Italian) gourmet recipes under her belt. I owe much of my lifelong romance with food to this warm and generous woman who had – in the Brooklyn vernacular — amazing ‘cooking chops.’

Crowd-pleasing meals and desserts were Grandma Sue’s specialty. Her homemade pasta dishes were topped with savory sauces and sharp, flavorful cheeses. Grandma Sue’s cakes oozed delicious chocolate or luscious, sugary fruits.

Her homemade pasta dishes were topped with savory sauces and sharp, flavorful cheeses.

Grandma Sue’s cakes oozed delicious chocolate or luscious, sugary fruits.

As a child, I would sit at Grandma Sue’s big wooden table while she instructed me in the fine art of cooking. While we chopped and peeled, she would tell me the stories of her life, and the lessons she’d learned.

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Cartellate • • • • • • • • •

3 1/3 cup flour 3/4 cup olive oil 3/4 cup muscatel wine 1/4 cup water 1 egg white Vegetable oil for frying 1 cup vine cotte (recipe to follow) 3/4 cup honey 1/2 cup walnuts 1/2 cup almonds

On a clean work surface, form the flour into the circular shape of a wreath. Heat the olive oil until warm. Sprinkle it along the top of the wreath of flour. With a spoon, mix the oil into the flour until the texture becomes crumbly. Heat the muscatel wine until warm and repeat the process of stirring into the flour. Sprinkle in the water. Knead the flour mixture until it becomes a ball of dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow setting for ten minutes.

Cut off a large handful portion of the dough.

Take the first piece, dust with a bit of flour, and roll out thinly with a rolling pin. You can also use a pasta machine. Using a fluted-edge pastry cutter, cut the rolled-out dough into 11/2”-wide strips.

Dip your finger into the egg white and use it as a paste to pinch the dough together about one inch apart along the strip in order to create small boat-like pockets. Bring the dough around from one end and roll the strip to form a rosette. Repeat with remaining strips of dough. Place the cartellate on paper towels overnight in a cool room. The next day they should be a bit stiff.

Today, as I recall her words about her teenage son’s death, the irony is significant. There are many years that bridge the life of my carefree, happy young days working at Grandma Sue’s table to my present life as a mother who has also lost her teenage son to cancer. Just like Grandma Sue. Through it all, Grandma Sue continued to cook and bake, especially her lush dessert, ‘schkatalata.’ Now, we knew this was Italian dialect, and therefore not the correct pronunciation. Regardless, the dessert was unknown, at least in our world. Even when I embarked beyond Brooklyn, I never met a soul who was familiar with schkatalata.

Even when I embarked beyond Brooklyn, I never met a soul who was familiar with schkatalata.

Hundreds of Schkatalata Every December, Grandma Sue, my mom, my sister and I prepared hundreds of schkatalata for family, friends and our own Christmas table.

To make this pastry-like treat, Grandma Sue formed a rich dough of flour, muscatel wine, and warm olive oil. We shaped the strips of dough into pinwheels and fried them to a crisp. The pinwheels were then fried again in a deeply intriguing mixture of sweet honey and homemade raisin wine, traditionally called vine cotte. Once the schkatalata were done, they were sprinkled with a dusting of warm toasted nuts.

This dessert is beyond divine, — with a perfect balance of wine, honey, and raisins with the richness of the dough and the warm, crunchy nuts.

Dear Grandma Sue passed away the day after Christmas in 1983, but her recipe for schkatalata remained with us. We continued the tradition; as my mom grew older, she would have her grandchildren around the table, assembly style, shaping the little wheels while she kneaded dough.

With the dawn of the Internet, I sought out information about this dessert, with no luck.

In a sauté pan, warm vegetable oil over medium heat.

Fry a few cartellate at a time, turning over once, until they are golden. In another sauté pan, warm the vine cotte and honey over medium heat. Place the fried cartellate in the warmed mixture for three minutes on each side, or until they are coated well. Layer the walnuts and pecans on a baking sheet and toast until golden brown. Place them in a food processor and pulse lightly until coarse. Arrange the cartellate on a platter and dust with the toasted nuts.

Vine Cotte

Years later, however, a dear friend in California, Jeanne Lorusso, sent me her local farmers’ market newsletter; the front cover photos showed a huge tray of Grandma Sue’s schkatalata, and underneath it read, “Cartellate.”

• 1-pound box of raisins • 11/2 quarts of water • 1 cup sugar

Bingo!

Add raisins to the water and bring to a boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally, over medium-low heat for one hour or until raisins start to plump and burst. Remove the raisins from the water with a slotted spoon. Reserve raisin water in the pot.

I immediately typed the word “cartellate” into a search engine, and endless websites and a plethora of information emerged – all about Grandma Sue’s honey-and-raisin wheels. It turns out that the recipe dates back to the early 1700s and was proudly made in the Catholic convents of Italy. It was an especially well-known dessert in Puglia; Grandma Sue’s schkatalata are proudly displayed in the windows of local bakeries. (Fascinating, of course, because Grandma Sue was not from anywhere near Puglia!)

Not every recipe for cartellate is exactly the same. Many Americans of Italian descent prepare them with a touch of cinnamon. Others use the juice of figs or prunes. It was noted that Italian nobility would use tangerine juice, as it was more costly than fig or raisin juice. But all the web sites stated how this dessert is extraordinarily unique in flavor.

Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve Back in Brooklyn, when Christmas Eve arrived we would attend Midnight Mass after celebrating the “Feast of Seven Fishes.” Along with our traditional seafood dinner, my mother and my aunts served espresso, pastries, homemade cookies, and of course, Grandma Sue’s cartellate.

Cartellate is one of the best moments of Christmas for our family, and so it is our pleasure to share this recipe from our Catholic kitchen, to yours.

Buona Natale!

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Place the raisins, a large spoonful at a time, into a cheesecloth and squeeze the juice out of them through the cloth and back into the pot. Discard the squeezedout pulp inside the cheesecloth.

When all the raisins are squeezed out through the cheesecloth, add the sugar to the pot. Simmer for one hour and a half or until syrupy. Pour the vine cotte in a jar and cover when cooled. Refrigerate for up to three months.

What Christmas Dinner is All About Parnell Donahue, MD.

S

ome years ago, at our family reunion -- called our family ‘Symposium’ because each member presents a short paper -- our daughter Maura was awarded our ‘traveling trophy’ for her presentation on why family dinners are so very important.

adults and as children, in our meals, as in the Eucharist, we gain spiritual health and strength for our journey through life. In the family meal we make time for each other, and we show respect, love, and affection. We express gratitude.

“Eucharist means literally ‘act of Thanksgiving.’ To celebrate the Eucharist and to live a Eucharistic life has everything to do with gratitude. If we can ‘live Eucharistically,’ then we view all of our lives as gifts; this gratitude influences how we treat each other, both inside and outside of our families.

We were all gathered around our family table, in our many generations. Here’s what she told us that day: “When we were kids, almost all of our meals were eaten together, as a family, at this table. I have come now to realize, as I sit with my own children around my family’s table, that meals aren’t really about food; they are about the people who come to break bread together.

“When I was a child our everyday meals were where we learned about each other and from each other. We discussed not just the events of each person’s day, but also the social and political issues relevant to the times. We learned how to think, how to feel, and how to love.

“Now I can see that family meals help to build community. Each member makes time for the meal, sacrificing other duties, other work that could be done, to make time for each other. We bless each other; we reverence God in each other and honor each other through this sacrifice. Most times we do so willingly since we feel responsible to each other as members of a family community.

“I have come now to realize, as I sit with my own children around my family’s table, that meals aren’t really about food; they are about the people who come to break bread together.”

“Pope John Paul II, in his 1981 exhortation ‘Familiaris Consortio’ referred to the family as a “domestic church.” Julie Rubio, in her book “A Christian Theology of Marriage and the Family” takes this analogy a step further and considers a family meal to be ‘eucharistic’ in nature. During the meal, members of the family community make room for conversation, celebrate each other, and further refine the family’s mission, clarifying goals, as well as rules.

“When we were growing up, we sat around this table and shared stories; we even argued about politics. But each meal brought us closer together. We became a part of each other’s lives.”

“When we were growing up, we sat around this table and shared stories; we even argued about politics. But each meal brought us closer together. We became a part of each other’s lives. As

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“If we can ‘live Eucharistically,’ then we view all of our lives as gifts; this gratitude influences how we treat each other.”

“Today, we come to this table to celebrate our symposium meal.

We look at the beautiful feast set on the table before us; Mom and Dad have said, ‘Eat and drink, we made this for you.’ The food is here for us to enjoy, to strengthen us, and to let us know how much they love us.

“Yet, this family meal is about more than just our family, for it is within the family structure that children learn that love and justice are connected. The love shared between parents and the love they have for their children must flow outward from the family into social, civic, and political commitments. Families must first gather as communities of love in their own homes before they can be communities of love for the world…. That is the mission of family as domestic church. It is our calling as a family.”

What does this mean for you? I invite you to think about your family as your domestic church for a minute.

That is what Christmas family dinner is all about.

Enjoy yours, and may you have many, many, more.

The above is taken and adapted from Tools for Effective Parenting,

by Parnell Donahue, MD. You can get hard cover, soft cover or e-version on his website.

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The Latin Mass at Christmas

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Šphoto by Jim Capaldi

A Teen’s View on the Latin Mass

by Anya Proctor

I

am nineteen years old. All my life I’ve known the Novus Ordo Mass, where, as a young teenager, my attention would often wander. I’d gaze around at people, at their outfits and personalities, or think about school, or what I’d eat for lunch.

Then I would snap back to reality, feeling guilty for not paying attention. I loved God, and understood the basics of my faith, but going to church was just sort of something I did every week. It wasn’t a fully spiritual experience.

On top of that, homilies often got weird. Priests would drabble on about other religions, the gospel of Judas, funny stories in the newspaper, irrelevant anecdotes, and even blatant heresies.

When my family moved to a small town, the weird Masses just became intolerable. Our first Sunday in the new town involved a priest using props on the altar to demonstrate his homily—as if we were all five-year-olds.

Homilies often got weird. Priests would drabble on about other religions, the gospel of Judas, funny stories in the newspaper, irrelevant anecdotes, and even blatant heresies.

My First Latin Mass at the Cathedral We decided to attend the traditional Latin Mass an hour away from home.

Stepping into a Cathedral was impressive, but celebrating Mass with the images of Jesus, the apostles, and the angels beautifully crafted onto the walls and windows of a strong, awe-inspiring place offered me a spiritual experience I’d never had before.

I did not get to know the priest’s personality at this Mass. I came to know God. I got to fully experience Christ Incarnate in flesh and blood, on my knees, deep in silence and prayer — to meditate on his union with me as he was placed reverently on my tongue by his holy servant. I closed my eyes when I received Jesus. I felt physically, spiritually, and emotionally transformed. Many times in the Cathedral, tears have come to me as I have prayed and focused on Jesus’s love and sacrifice for me.

I felt physically, spiritually, and emotionally transformed.

Many times in the Cathedral, tears have come to me as I have prayed and focused on Jesus’s love and sacrifice for me.

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Why the Latin Mass?

At this Mass, I do not want to immediately leave church to dwell in the world with material things and selfish preoccupations. I want to dwell in that moment with Jesus forever. Not until I was 19 years old did I fully understand the spiritual gift of the Eucharist—this sacred cornerstone of the Catholic faith.

The Novus Ordo focuses on people: shaking hands, singing folksy songs, laughing at jokes, watching people participate in a nice little ceremony.

But Mass is not intended to celebrate people. That’s for luncheons, birthday parties, and maybe youth groups—but not Mass. The Mass is for the Lord. The Mass is where the priest is so reverent he faces the Lord, not the people, so that they don’t focus on him, but only on Christ.

The Mass is for kneeling, praying, meditating with silent hearts which bring us closer to God. The Mass is for uniting with our Savior, who became a human being so he could horribly suffer on our behalf— have his flesh nailed to a wooden cross and be humiliated in front of an entire nation so we might live forever.

Isn’t the least we could do show Him respect at the holiest point

on Earth, where he meets us at the altar? Can we kneel down for Him? Close our eyes for Him? Realize that He is too sacred to touch with our sinful hands? Give up an hour of focusing on ourselves and instead focus all of our energy solely on Him? These ideas are lost and degraded in the new Mass.

A Catholic at College So, as a college student, among people preoccupied with themselves and the things of the world, I find it difficult to connect with others about the way the Traditional Mass changed my life. Not even among Catholics.

I attend a medium-sized liberal arts university in Florida. We have one Catholic group on campus, which attends a Novus Ordo Mass. It’s so

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hard to participate in that Mass since being transformed by the Latin Mass, so now I drive every Sunday by myself to worship and receive the Lord.

I am lonely sometimes. Not just because I drive to Mass alone, but because I am largely alone here, period. I don’t know if anyone at my school really shares the same values as me. This is because the spirit of Latin Mass encourages a reverence which requires devout compliance. It’s hard to say Latin Mass and then hurt God by partying on Saturday nights, enjoying crude jokes, or devoting energy toward anything at all that doesn’t glorify Him. Now, I’m no better than anyone and am a great sinner. But I no longer have the same desires as my fellow classmates. When I meditate so deeply on the Lord as the Latin Mass enables me, I feel so spiritually inclined to serve God and no one else—not money, possessions, or even self-satisfaction. These are all inferior to the fullness of serving God. So although I might go to Mass alone, and be alone much of the time, I am never truly alone, because Christ is here with me when I pray at night, or say the rosary at my desk, or go to Mass on Sunday.

And that is enough.

R.

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How We Got Here A First Christmas for the Latin Mass in a Thoroughly Modern Parish

F

or the past two years, Father Philip Clement has been one of the parochial vicars of Incarnation parish, near St. Petersburg, Florida. Father Clements studied philosophy at Christendom College and then attended St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida. He was ordained in 2008 and said his first Traditional Latin Mass on the First Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2011.

On February 20, 2012, I had dinner with the pastor, and at some point in the course of the conversation the fact that I had been saying the Traditional Latin Mass since the previous November came up, and he offered me the Sunday afternoon timeslot in which to offer the Latin Mass in our parish. Needless to say I was stunned, as that was not the purpose of our conversation, but he offered it anyway. I took it to prayer, and two days later I informed him that I would love the opportunity.

By that point I was proficient in saying the Low Mass and had learned much about the history of the Mass in general. Since the Traditional Latin Mass was relatively new to me, I assumed it would be for our parishioners as well, except for the few who might have remembered it from their childhood.

Since my first Mass on November 27th, I’ve been hooked.

In this exclusive REGINA Magazine interview, Father Clement recounts the story of how Incarnation Parish has become a beloved locale for the Latin Mass. The story of this parish shows us yet again how a thriving parish community with a strong future can grow, even against all expectations in a modern church, with an aging population.

Q. Tell us about Incarnation Parish.

Incarnation parish is located in the Town N Country area of Tampa, Florida, which is centrally located in the Diocese of St. Petersburg. It was created in 1962 and has roughly 3,200 families. The pastor is the Very Rev. Michael Suszynski, and he has been pastor of Incarnation parish for four years.

Q. How did you become involved with the TLM? Early in 2011 I was asked by one of the three priests in our diocese who said the Latin Mass at that time if I could fill in for him while he was away on vacation. I did not know how to say the Latin Mass but had a deep interest in learning. This priest friend of mine instructed me on how to say the Mass, and with lots of study and practice, I was able to cover his parish’s Latin Mass while he was out of town.

Thereafter, I made opportunities in my schedule to make the 35 minute drive to his parish to continue helping him with his Latin Masses. Since my first Mass on November 27th, I’ve been hooked.

Q. When did you introduce the TLM? Prior to 2012, Incarnation Parish did not have a Traditional Latin Mass.

We also had a very unique situation, as our parish did not have a Sunday evening Mass on the schedule.

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Q. How did you get parishioners interested?

I decided to offer the parishioners a three-part seminar on the Traditional Latin Mass, which covered preparation for Mass, the Mass of the Catechumens and the Mass of the Faithful. It was a great success and was attended by over 200 people.

Each part of the seminar was given in successive weeks and ended on the fourth week with our inaugural Mass, the very first Traditional Latin Mass offered in our fifty year old parish on May 6, 2012.

Our three- part parish seminar on the Latin Mass was a great success and was attended by over 200 people.

Q. So, the Mass just took from there?

Not really. Immediately after May 6th, administrative problems prevented us from continuing with the Latin Mass for a period of six months. By November 4, 2012, we were able to add the Traditional Latin Mass to the regular Mass schedule. At that time it was only me saying the Latin Mass in our parish, and my schedule would only allow me to offer the Mass twice per month, and I was content in moving forward as such.

However, the following month I met a Jesuit priest at the local Jesuit High School in Tampa who knew how to say not only the Low Mass but the High Mass and the Solemn High Mass, and this offered our Traditional Latin Mass community a huge opportunity. Fr. Patrick Hough, S.J. came aboard January 20, 2013 and said his first Latin Mass at Incarnation. Now that Fr. Hough was available to assist with the Latin Mass, we were able to start offering the Traditional Latin Mass every Sunday, and we have been doing so since January of this year.

In addition to being able to offer the Latin Mass every Sunday, we were now able to start offering the High Mass and the Solemn High Mass as well.

Incarnation had its first High Mass on February 24th of this year and our first Solemn High Mass on Pentecost Sunday, May 19th.

direction has been a tremendous benefit to the process, and we are happy to have him assist in our parish.

In addition to Fr. Hough’s direction for the schola, in February of this year, we invited Fr. Samuel Weber, O.S.B. an expert in Sacred Music to give us a seminar on sacred cantilation. He shared with us his love for sacred music and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form. Since beginning grade school in 1953, Fr. Weber has been studying and singing Gregorian chant.

In April 2008, he became the founder and first director of The Institute of Sacred Music in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis. The Institute of Sacred Music was established by Archbishop Raymond E. Burke to promote the sacred liturgy and Gregorian Chant. In this seminar, Fr. Weber spoke about sacred cantilation and the primacy of place sacred music has in the liturgy.

He also gave two sessions to train our schola and our altar servers, both of which were open to registrants who wished to sit in and learn more about how Gregorian Chant is sung and why the altar servers do what they do.

We were very blessed to have Fr. Weber visit and instruct us, and the results of that instruction can certainly be seen and heard in the voices of Incarnation’s schola.

The Institute of Sacred Music was established by Archbishop Raymond E. Burke to promote the sacred liturgy and Gregorian Chant.

Q. That is a lot of work! What is the current situation?

Since that time I have been able to learn the High Mass and the priest and sub-deacon’s parts for the Solemn High Mass, which allows us to have a very full Sunday schedule each month. Currently, the first Sunday of the month is a Low Mass, followed by two High Masses on the second and third Sundays, and a Solemn High Mass on the fourth Sunday.

All in all, I believe we have come a long way in just one year. This should encourage any parish considering starting the Traditional Latin Mass to follow the Spirit’s lead, bring it to the people, and have confidence that there is much support for the Ancient Mass of the Saints.

We have come a long way in just one year. This should encourage any parish considering starting the Traditional Latin Mass to follow the Spirit’s lead, bring it to the people, and have confidence that there is much support for the Ancient Mass of the Saints.

Q. How has sacred music played a part in the transformation of your parish?

Yes. Before we could offer the High Mass or Solemn High Mass in our parish, we first needed to explore the opportunity of starting a sacred music program. In the beginning, we invited a chant schola from a neighboring parish to come to sing the Mass parts for our first High Mass. We also invited them to continue singing motets and hymns at our Low Masses, and interest continued to develop.

Soon thereafter we were able to start our sacred music program, as we had just hired a new Director of Music in the parish who had experience playing and conducting chant choirs, as a well as a young man who volunteered to direct our schola. They have been working very hard to build the program and have done a wonderful job. Fr. Hough also is an accomplished musician and has a lot of experience directing sacred music. His influence and

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Q. Have you introduced any other changes — more frequent confessions, First Friday devotions, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament or any others?

Only recently were we able to start our new monthly Mass schedule, where we are able to offer a Low Mass, two High Masses and one Solemn High Mass per month. Much of my time has been spent tending to the necessary details and to training our altar boys. Therefore, not many other changes have been implemented at this time.

We are working towards being able to offer Confession before every Mass and occasional Forty Hour Devotions during the year, but that is only in the planning stages at this time. Our parish has had First Friday devotions, including Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, for years so no major changes have to take place regarding those devotions. However, we are planning to offer more hours of Exposition and Adoration in the near future.

Q. How are your CCD and RCIA programs? Well-attended? What catechetical materials do you use?

Our CCD and RCIA programs are very well attended. Even though the population growth rate has been stable in recent years due to the aging of the area, we are consistently welcoming new families into the parish and into the Faith through the sacraments of initiation. This year our CCD program switched resources, and we are now using the Faith and Life series from Ignatius Press.

Even though the population growth rate has been stable in recent years due to the aging of the area, we are consistently welcoming new families into the parish and into the Faith through the sacraments of initiation.

Yes. Our congregation has steadily grown to the point that we average 150 – 200 people per Mass. Ages range from infancy to the early 90’s. We have done baptisms and Masses for the dead, but we have not yet had a wedding. Many of the families are young with young children and are homeschooling families.

In my opinion, this has added to the supply of our fifteen-plus altar boys.

These young men are eager to learn and excited to serve, and we already have one young man discerning entering the seminary.

In order to foster continued growth in the community and build relationships between the Latin Mass parishioners, we have periodic potluck dinners after our Solemn High Masses. God has truly blessed our parish.

Q. How does the Latin Mass work in your modern church building?

Our current church building is of typical modern design, complete with a resurrected Jesus behind the square, wooden, detached altar.

As is common with many churches today, there isn’t much within it to build upon for the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass. Even though the church is modern architecture, we were able to come up with a way to beautifully modify the current altar to make it acceptable for the Latin Mass.

Q. How have these changes been received in your parish?

Incarnation Parish has been in existence for fifty-one years, and for forty-six of those years, our parishioners have been used to the Novus Ordo. While our parishioners are wonderful, the modern influence has had an effect on some of them as well.

When the Latin Mass was first introduced in our parish, we received the typical type of resistance, and I learned that people either love the Latin Mass or they despise it. With that knowledge, my prayer to the Lord was that if He wanted the Latin Mass in our parish, then would He please provide the funding from the people rather than having to fund the Latin Mass from the general parish funds and risk more ridicule.

He obviously heard this prayer, and in less than four weeks, we raised over $20,000 to outfit the altar and to purchase all the other necessaries. The people who are appreciative of the Mass have not ceased to be more than generous in their support, whether it be monetary, spiritual or both.

My prayer to the Lord was that if He wanted the Latin Mass in our parish, then would He please provide the funding from the people rather than having to fund the Latin Mass from the general parish funds and risk more ridicule. He obviously heard this prayer, and in less than four weeks, we raised over $20,000.

Q. Are you attracting people to your parish? Homeschoolers? Do you find that many people are getting more involved in parish life? Altar servers?

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Q. This will be your first year offering the TLM at Christmas. How do you think parishioners will react to this? What plans are you making, both to help people keep a holy Advent and Christmastide?

Our community is slowly stabilizing, we’ve been able to include all of the Holy Days of Obligation in our schedule, and in order to help the parishioners prepare for a holy Advent and Christmastide, we are attempting to implement regular Confessions before Mass by the beginning of Advent.

Plans are also in development for a Forty Hours devotion.

Q. How can people find your parish?

We welcome everyone! Our website is www.sacrificiumsanctum.org and we can be found on our Facebook page “Sacrificium Sanctum.”

R.

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Christmas Places

Historic, Beautiful, Catholic Most people don’t typically think of the Deep South as a place with great Catholic culture, but the truth is that the Church is thriving in Savannah, Georgia. The Diocese of Savannah claims 77,287 Catholics, impressive numbers considering the Protestant hegemony in this part of America. Savannah’s first Catholic parish was founded in the late 18th century, and it took about a hundred years to establish a bishop’s seat.

Photos and Text by Amy Proctor

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Savannah, Georgia

Centerpiece of the Faith The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist was officially dedicated in 1876. Located squarely in the center of historic Savannah, Savannah’s famous Cathedral overlooks quaint Lafayette Park, on the route of horse-drawn carriages toting tourists around the city.

The interior of the Cathedral is simply stunning.

Marble pillars, stained-glass windows, a large pipe organ and breathtakingly high ceilings with enormous murals depict Biblical scenes and the lives of the saints.

The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist

The interior of the Cathedral is simply stunning. Marble pillars, stainedglass windows, a large pipe organ and breathtakingly high ceilings with enormous murals depict Biblical scenes and the lives of the saints.

An Awe-Inspiring Latin Mass Today, the Cathedral is one of only two Churches which offer the Latin Mass in the Diocese, and Christmas Mass there should not be missed.

Worshipping at the Latin Mass in this beautiful setting during the Christmas season cannot but make the Catholic feel incredibly privileged, and really connected to the centuries of Catholic tradition. As the incense rises to the ceiling, you can almost feel the presence of the Saints worshipping with the present faithful… and it is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

There’s a reason Catholics who attend the Latin Mass at the Cathedral call it “heaven on earth.” It truly is.

Christmastime in Savannah’s Cathedral In the American South, they do everything big -- and Christmas is no exception. And without a doubt, the most spectacular Christmas attraction in Savannah is the annual decorating of the Cathedral.

Christmas decorations go up on the first of Advent through Epiphany, drawing approximately 20,000 visitors.

During Advent, Our Lady’s Chapel is decorated so spectacularly that immediately after Mass, tourists rush in to walk the length of the nativity scene, which spans from the altar rail to the rear of Our Lady’s Chapel.

They gaze with reverence on the Christ Child in a manger, attended by Mary, Joseph, the Wise Men, shepherds and animals. In the distance is Jerusalem, rendered lifelike with hills and trees, and the scene includes angels and saints, and even a running fountain of water.

At the entrance to the beautiful Blessed Sacrament Chapel is an attention-grabbing 22 foot Christmas tree, constructed entirely of glowing red poinsettias.

It is one of the Cathedral’s most photographed decorations during Christmas.

Another Great Christmas Treasure Savannah has another great Christmas treasure, the Lucas Theatre. Savannah is brilliant at closing the divide between old and new, modern and traditional. You definitely get the best of both worlds at the historic LucasTheatre, which opened almost ninety-two years ago.

The allure of the Lucas Theatre is its Art Deco “theater era” decor. The design may make the movie-goer feel a little under-dressed -- as if you should have remembered to bring your top hat or fur coat -- but the cozy and accommodating interior makes you feel a welcomed friend. It’s a sort of time capsule that belongs to everyone.

Last Christmas, the old black-and-white holiday classic ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed showed for one night only to a nearly sold out audience. The elegant Christmas décor and the classic Christmas film on the big screen created a warm holiday feeling. This is truly a unique Savannah experience that should not be missed!

Christmas in Savannah draws many thousands of visitors every year. If you are among the many who want to experience the season with southern hospitality and a rich Catholic heritage, see http:// www.visitsavannah.com/ for more information.

Y’all will be glad you did!

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R.

The Latin Mass Tourist Winter at Saint Benedict Abbey

by Roseanne T. Sullivan

S

t. Benedict Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Still River, a picturesque village in the town of Harvard, Massachusetts. The serenity of the abbey and its surroundings makes the name Still River seem perfectly apt. The abbey overlooks a lovely vista with the Nashua River valley below and with wooded hills rolling out behind the valley to Mount Wachusett in the distance.

The Abbey traces its roots to a Catholic student center of men and women started in 1940 in Harvard Square, Cambridge, by a laywomen, Catherine Goddard Clarke, and two laymen, Christopher Huntington and Avery Dulles (later, Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J.).

Today, the seven priests and five brothers at Saint Benedict Abbey continue the mission of their founders by living a monastic life of prayer and work not only for their own sanctification and salvation, but for the sanctification and salvation of others.

Reverent Worship in Both Forms of the Mass The Benedictines’ vision is to unite all men to Christ in His Church, bring about the triumph of Mary’s Immaculate Heart and flourish as a Benedictine Community. They are committed to reverent worship in the Novus Ordo of Mass and Divine Office -- all of which are open to the public. Each day, Mass is celebrated in English (7 AM), and in Latin with Gregorian Chant (Mon. – Sat. 8 AM; Sun. 11 AM). Divine Office (Vigils, Lauds, Sext, and Vespers) is daily chanted in Latin; Compline is in English Mon. – Sat., and in Latin on Sunday.

The monks also recite the Rosary together each day. Several of the priests from the Abbey also offer Mass in the Extraordinary Form on Sundays at the convent next door.

True Christian Hospitality The second way in which the monks bring their vision to reality is by their apostolate of Christian Hospitality. Hosting individuals, families and retreat groups throughout the year, the monks seek to serve Christ in the many guests who visit from all over the country. The guest facilities can accommodate as many as 85 overnight guests and up to 250 people for meals all of which are prepared by the monks. Their apostolate also

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includes assisting many who come to the Abbey desiring the Sacrament of Reconciliation or seeking to join the Catholic Church.

Their apostolate also includes assisting many who come to the Abbey desiring the Sacrament of Reconciliation or seeking to join the Catholic Church.

On the Abbey website, guests are directed to contact the guest-master to arrange a visit to the Abbey (abbeyretreats@aol.com) or phone: 978-4563221.

Whether you are thinking of taking some time ‘to get away’ for yourself, your family or friends, or are pondering a vocation to monastic life, the Abbey is a place where you can find God. The natural beauty of the Abbey’s seventy-five acres makes it easy to lift up one’s heart and mind to God. The words of the English Catholic poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J., come to mind when viewing a sunset from the Abbey: “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” The words of the English Catholic poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J., come to mind when viewing a sunset from the Abbey: “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” Benedictine Vocations Welcome Finally, the monks bring their vision to reality by being faithful to their vocation. As they articulate in their Mission Statement: “Relying on Jesus in the Eucharist, Slavery to Our Lady, and fraternal charity, we seek to become holy by a life of prayer and work.” As one monk put it, “We recognize that without genuine striving for holiness, the Abbey would be little more than a museum with a beautiful view, and a few odd characters to point out the artifacts. But, with genuine striving for holiness and the passion to become the saints whom God calls us to be, the Abbey is not only a place to visit, but God’s own home – and yours as well.”

Young men inquiring about monastic life are directed to contact the Vocation Director, (abbeyvocation@aol.com or cell: 978-877-3694).

Saint Benedict Abbey 252 Still River Road, P. O. Box 67 Still River, Massachusetts 01467 Tel: 978-456-3221 Fax: 978-456-8181 Website: http://www.abbey.org

Pilgrimage

iN the Footsteps oF st. beNedict

By Syversen Touring

September 17-26, 2014

Norcia

Join Fr. Cassian Folsom, O.S.B. and the Monks of Norcia for a pilgrimage in the footsteps of St. Benedict!

TOUR DETAILS Approximate Cost: $3695.00, includes: • Round Trip non-stop airfare from NY JFK • Land travel by luxury coach • 3 and 4 star hotel accommodations w/private bath (Cost is based on double room occupancy) • Breakfast & dinner daily • All entrance fees where needed For additional information, please contact:

assisi

subiaco

moNtecassiNo

rome

hIghLIghTS • The Monastery of San Benedetto, Norcia; birthplace of SS Benedict & Scholastica • Joining the Monks of Norcia for Vespers & Compline • Monasteries of Subiaco & Monte Cassino, founded by St. Benedict • Assisi, birthplace of SS Francis & Clare • Rome, the Eternal City • Papal Audience with Our Holy Father, Pope Francis

SyverSen Touring:

email

info@syversentouring.com

or

email

development@osbnorcia.org

The monkS of norcia:

1-800-334-5425 (toll free)/ 1-845-868-1597 Tel (812) 686-6102 Tel

S

t. Louis Catholics are readying their party clothes to support an extraordinary cause this Christmas. Though it started only two years ago in a humble church basement, the ‘Gaudete Gala’ (pronounced Gow-dat-tay) has quickly morphed into a muchanticipated festive seasonal event.

The December 14 gala at the magnificent Grand Ballroom of the Millennium Hotel in downtown St. Louis benefits the St. Francis de Sales Oratory sacred music program. St. Francis de Sales is a historic Catholic church in a South St. Louis neighborhood that has become the center of a remarkable renaissance. Adopted by Catholics

Meet Me in Saint Louis

Catholics To Celebrate At The 2013 Gaudete Gala

who often trek in from miles around, the Oratory attracts many people – especially the young -- with its magnificent liturgies. The Oratory is under the administration of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.

By all accounts, the Gala is highly popular, drawing 170 attendees and a 30% increase in donations last year, a huge jump from the first event in the basement of Saint Francis de Sales in 2011.

St. Francis de Sales is an historic Catholic church in a South St. Louis neighborhood that has become the center of a remarkable renaissance.

Adopted by Catholics who often trek in from miles around, the Oratory attracts many people – especially the young -- with its magnificent liturgies.

“In just two short years, the Gaudete Gala has become an annual tradition of fine food and music,” said Nicole Merlo, parishioner and organizer of this year’s event.

“The evening features an elegant dinner as well as live performances of the Oratory’s various music ensembles under the direction of Nick Botkins, our Director of Sacred Music.”

Performance highlights include movements of Vivaldi’s popular Gloria, as well as Gustav Holst’s charming collection of traditional carols – Christmas Day. The 2013 Gala will also include a silent auction featuring Catholic art, wine baskets, and more.

Gala-goers can enjoy an excellent evening of Catholic fellowship and traditional Carols by purchasing tickets at the Oratory office (314) 771-3100, through December 8th. $45 per ticket or $75 (Orchestra Seating). Overnight accommodations can be arranged through the Millennium Hotel website: or by calling 1 (800) 992-2694.

Saint Francis de Sales Oratory Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest

presents

Gaudete Gala our 3rd annual

Saturday, December 14th, 2013 at the Millennium Hotel

200 S 4th Street, Saint Louis, Missouri 63102

Cocktails 6:00pm Dinner and Performance 7:00pm Silent Auction Orchestra Seating $75.00 • General Admission $45.00

Tickets on sale November 17th

after both Sunday Masses in the church basement or call the Oratory Office at 314-771-3100 All proceeds to benefit the sacred music program of St. Francis de Sales Oratory

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What Tiny Tim Really Taught Us How Charles Dickens Accidentally Revived Christmas

by Michael Durnan

I

t is the year 1843. A young Victoria is on the British Throne, supported by her consort, Prince Albert. The prince has introduced the German Christmas custom of a decorated fir tree -- to an England that no longer cares about Christmas.

Dickens saw businessmen like Scrooge on the streets of Victorian London.

He saw the great wealth they were amassing, as well as the overcrowding, squalor and appalling working conditions most people had to endure.

Dickens wrote ‘A Christmas Carol’ in just six weeks in the autumn of 1843. It was rushed out in time for Christmas, becoming an instant success. Demand was so great that the book had to be reprinted before the New Year.

Britain has become an industrial and military superpower. Towns and cities have mushroomed, seemingly overnight. Masses of the poor have migrated from the sweet English countryside to work in grimy factories, smoky mills and perilous coal mines.

An economic miracle, it is. But this new industrial townscape is all squalor, overcrowding, disease and poverty. In London, the first city of this extensive and expanding British Empire, extreme poverty co-exists side by side with great affluence and opulence. The poor live in squalid slum houses, overcrowded and disease-ridden, where the average age is only 22 years.

In A Christmas Carol, Dickens shows us a cross section of society from the very wealthy to the extremely poor and at a time of year when such disparity of wealth was most obvious and keenly felt.

The book was soon acclaimed as a classic. For the first time ever, Dickens had presented the world with an ideal vision of what Christmas ought to be in an urban setting, inspiring people to help the poor, especially at Christmastime.

In A Christmas Carol, Dickens shows us a cross section of British society from the very wealthy to the extremely poor and at a time of year when such disparity of wealth was most obvious and keenly felt.

Resurrecting Christmas Dickens, however, did more than just raise awareness of the dreadful social conditions of the 19th Century poor. He also, albeit unintentionally, helped to restore and re-define the celebration of Christmas.

By the late 18th century, the celebration of Christmas was falling out of fashion in Britain. Mass migrations from the countryside had cut the former peasants off from village parishes. In the cities, these new workers were beyond the reach of their pastors – and most religious celebrations.

When Dickens was young, the public celebration of Christmas was at a low ebb. Christmas was generally seen as a quaint, silly and old- fashioned celebration that people could no longer be bothered with.

Christmas was generally seen as a quaint, silly and old- fashioned celebration that people could no longer be bothered with. Through his main character, Ebeneezer Scrooge, Dickens paints a compelling portrait of this popular indifference towards Christmas.

The Empire made the wealthy even richer; the contrast between opulent country houses and the squalid conditions of the poor drove Dickens to pen ‘A Christmas Carol.’

An Angry Young Man Observing this is a young writer whose burning ambition is to strike a “sledgehammer blow” for the poor. His name is Charles Dickens, and he writes an essay, “An appeal of the People of England, on behalf of the Poor Man’s Child.” His hope is to raise awareness of the terrible, dire circumstances that so many of Queen Victoria’s subjects live in.

But Dickens quickly realized that an entertaining and dramatic story would have far greater impact. And he knew Victorian London better than almost anyone; Dickens would walk the streets tirelessly, observing people and their conditions. He saw businessmen like Scrooge and the great wealth they were amassing, as well as the overcrowding, squalor and appalling working conditions most people had to endure.

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The leading newspaper, The Times of London, even failed to mention Christmas at all between 1790 and 1835. (Through his main character, Ebeneezer Scrooge, Dickens paints a compelling portrait of this popular indifference towards Christmas.)

Dickens performed public readings of A Christmas Carol to raise funds for charitable causes. His very first public reading was to raise donations for a new Industrial and Literary institute in the English city of Birmingham, so that poor people could be admitted free or very cheaply. He also gave readings to raise funds for Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London.

As A Christmas Carol’s impact spread, Christmas charities grew and expanded.

The book’s good influence was immense.

For example, a factory owner in the United States who attended a public reading of the story given by Dickens himself, decided to give his workers Christmas Day off and to give each of them a turkey every Christmas thereafter.

A Christmas Carol still echoes down the ages, reminding us of what the true meaning and spirit of Christmas should be.

As A Christmas Carol’s impact spread, Christmas charities grew and expanded. The book’s good influence was immense.

Tiny Tim Today Christmas today is far more commercialized in a way Dickens would not have anticipated, or even welcomed. However, it arguably because of Charles Dickens that we still think of Christmas as a time of family gatherings and celebrations, wholesome, innocent fun and enjoyment, the exchange of gifts and goodwill, and a time to show kindness and generosity to others less fortunate. This one author helped to restore and rejuvenate the public celebration of Christmas throughout Britain which continues to this day, despite the decline of the Christian Faith so evident since Dickens was alive.

Dickens’s book has inspired several television and film adaptations. Its appeal is timeless, even though its setting is Victorian London.

A Christmas Carol still echoes down the ages, reminding us of what the true meaning and spirit of Christmas should be.

‘Scrooge knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that truly be said of all of us, and all of us. And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Everyone.’

It can also be said, that because of Charles Dickens and his wonderful Christmas story, that the British people, ever since it first appeared in 1843, know too, how to keep Christmas well.

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Industrial Revolution-era workers crowding into English cities often left their religion behind in the village churches. The newly urbanized workers lived in appalling social conditions.

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Christmastime in Dublin

by Tracy O’Dwyer

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magine nearly two weeks when all but the most necessary chores are set aside. When family is reunited. When the hospitality of the house is open to all. When friends and neighbors gather around your fireside for long evenings of storytelling, music and reminiscing.

If you are in Ireland, that’s what you can expect during the Twelve Days of Christmas, from the Nativity to Epiphany.

In Ireland, many of the traditions of our forebears are still important, and practised in most households. In our Dublin home, my Irish husband and I bring together our best Christmas traditions from generations past.

Christmas Eve On Christmas Eve, a lighted candle is placed in Irish windows to welcome the wayfarers, Mary and Joseph. The candle is usually lit by the youngest among us. Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve is always packed, although these days it’s more likely to take place at 10.00pm.

Each person in our family receives a special Christmas ornament, representing something special that happened within the year. The first year we were married, I gave Liam a beautiful silver Church to represent our sacramental marriage in the lovely Irish countryside.

On Christmas Eve, a lighted candle is placed in Irish windows to welcome the wayfarers, Mary and Joseph.

Christmas Day Irish families wake up early on Christmas morning, as the thrill of opening presents remains for all ages of children. (Our daughter, now 16, still wakes us up at the crack of dawn!)

For, truth be told, our Christmas focuses on our Catholic religion. Despite the encroaching secularist materialism that surrounds us, Christ is the ‘Reason for the Season,’ first and foremost in our home.

Imagine nearly two weeks when all but the most necessary chores are set aside. When family is reunited. When the hospitality of the house is open to all.

The Beginning of Christmas Of course, I’m American and so when after Thanksgiving my mother’s care packages arrive filled with everything for a yummy Christmas holiday feast of treats, that’s my own beginning of the Christmas season. It’s American Sweeties you’ll get from my kitchen -- Christmas Wreath cookies, Church Windows, fudge, truffles and our all-time favorite, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes!

It’s American Sweeties you’ll get from my kitchen -- Christmas Wreath cookies, Church Windows, fudge, truffles and our all-time favorite, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes!

Traditionally, the start of Christmas in Ireland is on December 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and so we attend Mass. (In most Irish households, this is also the day when Christmas decorations are brought down from the attic.) On that day, Dublin City Centre is crowded with people from every part of Ireland. The Christmas lights go up along Henry Street and Grafton Street, and the shops make special efforts to create beautiful seasonal windows. Irish children look forward to meeting Saint Nick in Dublin’s two most famous department stores, Clery’s in O’Connell Street and Arnott’s in Henry Street.

Traditionally, the start of Christmas in Ireland is on December 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and so we attend Mass.

We all love the Live Animal Crib near The Mansion House on Dawson Street, a life size stable that contains a donkey, a sheep and a goat. Early each morning the animals are brought to the stable and each evening the animals are returned to a farm on the south side of the city.

It’s one of our favorite Christmas traditions as a family. Our annual visit to the Crib serves as a good reminder of what Christmas is really all about, not only for our family but for many families across in Ireland.

A Crib is also a very important part of our at-home tradition. It’s usually placed under our Christmas tree or on the fireplace mantel. Of course, the manger remains empty until the little figure of Baby Jesus is placed there with great reverence on Christmas Morning. (But, I’m getting ahead of myself…)

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To sustain everyone through Christmas Day, we have a ‘fry-up’ -a ‘Full Irish Breakfast.’ Sausage, black and white pudding, rashers (bacon), eggs, mushrooms. That, plus a hot cup of tea or coffee will keep you going until Christmas dinner in the darkening hours of the later afternoon.

Though the Irish generally cook turkey, in our Irish-American household we’ve already had our fill of that bird after Thanksgiving. So Liam makes a Christmas Feast of filet mignon, roasted carrots and Irish roasted potatoes and the most amazing gravy. I have added a little Americana in recent years -- green bean casserole, cranberry salad and my own homemade stuffing.

Christmas Morning ‘fry-up’ is a Full Irish Breakfast -- sausage, black and white pudding, rashers (bacon), eggs, mushrooms.

St. Stephen’s Day The 26th of December is celebrated as St. Stephen’s Day in Ireland. This day is equally important for socialising. For most Irish households, it’s a very sociable day, when visitors may call in to share some seasonal foods or drinks. We visit with relatives, friends and neighbours and exchange presents, often food and drink. There is great movement throughout Dublin and all of Ireland on this day as families venture out in the frosty air to visit cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

As an American, I rather quite enjoy that St Stephen’s Day keeps the focus on family and celebrating Christ. We are never rushed out the door at 4 am for “Day-after- Christmas” sales and chaos.

Epiphany In Ireland, Christmastime only finally comes to an end on what is called ‘Little Christmas’ or ‘Women’s Christmas,’ on the 6th of January -- Epiphany.

The Irish ‘Mammy’ relaxes and gets spoiled; the rest of the family cook and do all the work your Mam would normally do.

Little Christmas is also the day when Christmas decorations are taken down and once again confined to the attic for another year.

Nollaig Shona Duit from our Dublin home to yours!

‘Little Christmas’ or ‘Women’s Christmas’ is on the 6th of January -Epiphany -- when the Irish ‘Mammy’ relaxes and gets spoiled.

R.

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Why the Christmas Tree Is Christian A Story of Old England and Germany

by Michael Durnan

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hristmas is the darkest time of year in Northern Europe and North America. In these frigid lands, the Christmas tree is a potent Christian symbol, a light shining in the winter darkness. Its evergreen foliage enlivens our bleak and barren winter landscapes at a time of year when broadleaved trees stand bare, desolate and skeletal.

But how did conifers, pines and firs become such recognisable symbols of the Feast of Christ’s Nativity?

A 19th Century German Prince

‘Today I have two children of my own who are full of happy wonder at the German Christmas Tree and its radiant candles.’

had subdued the wilder, more violent aspects of Anglo-Saxon warrior culture. He also knew it had appealed to their better nature. Boniface believed the same would be true of their Germanic cousins, and he was determined to end this barbaric practice when he embarked upon his mission to the Germanic tribes.

One of the savage aspects of Germanic Norse religious culture was human sacrifice to appease their gods — especially Odin, the king of the gods and Thor, the god of thunder.

An Ancient, Bloody Oak

Christmas trees became popular in Britain after the German husband and Consort of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, introduced them in 1841. And where the Royal Family led, fashionable society was sure to follow. Soon Christmas trees became an essential part of the British Christmas.

According to legend, Boniface let it be known among the tribes that when the next sacrifice was planned, he would personally prevent it. He gathered a group of his monks at an ancient oak tree considered sacred in Norse mythology. This was the place of blood-letting, where the Germans would perform their human sacrifices.

Interestingly however, Prince Albert was in fact completing a circle in the real story of the Christmas Tree. For it was an Englishman who once upon a time gave the German people the gift of the Christmas Tree.

The sacrificial victim, a young girl, was bound to the oak tree in preparation, but before the fatal blow could be struck, Boniface grabbed the axe out of the executioner’s hands.

It was an Englishman who once upon a time gave the German people the gift of the Christmas Tree.

A Dark Ages Monk It was the 8th century Benedictine monk, St. Boniface of Crediton, in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, who first took the Gospel to the Germanic tribes of Northern Europe.

Unlike the Germanic Anglo-Saxons of England, the Germanic tribes of mainland Northern Europe were still pagans. They worshipped Odin, Thor – fierce and ancient Norse gods. One of the savage aspects of Germanic Norse religious culture was human sacrifice to appease their gods — especially Odin, the king of the gods and Thor, the god of thunder.

In England, Boniface knew that conversion to Christianity

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The Benedictine monk swung at the girl’s chains, whose links broke under the blow of the sharp blade. Boniface released the girl, and then turned his axe on the sacred oak tree.

“As Boniface drove a huge gash into the trunk, the onlookers stood speechless, too stunned to move whilst the Benedictine continued to hack away.”

As Boniface drove a huge gash into the trunk, the onlookers stood speechless, too stunned to move whilst the Benedictine continued to hack away. The oak crashed harmlessly to the ground, amidst a foreboding silence.

However, to the unarmed monks’ utter astonishment, the fierce Germans fell to their knees in terror. Anticipating the wrath of their gods for this sacrilege, the tribesmen were certain that

Because of Boniface’s efforts, the Germanic tribes were converted to Christianity. Boniface, who had become Bishop of Mainz, later founded a Benedictine monastery at Fulda. He lived out most of his long life in Germany, establishing Christianity there. He was martyred as an old man attempting to bring Christ to the Frisian Islands in the Netherlands on the 5th June, AD 754.

It was Boniface’s wish that his body should be buried in Germany, a country whose people, he had come to love. So it was that he was buried at the Abbey of Fulda. He is now known as The Apostle to The Germans.

A Gift Among Nations Since Prince Albert first established the tradition of Christmas Trees in Britain, a large tree is erected every year in Trafalgar Square. Since 1945, this is a gift from Norway in thanksgiving for the UK’s support of Norway during World War II. Clearly, the British have taken this German idea to their hearts, but most are unaware that it was an Englishman who gave the idea to the Germans all those years ago — and that it was a German who returned the gift.

The British have taken this German idea to their hearts, but most are unaware that it was an Englishman who gave the idea to the Germans all those years ago — and that it was a German who returned the gift.

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Boniface would be struck down by a lightning bolt from Thor’s hammer, called ‘Mjolnir.’

The Origin of the German Christmas Tree Undeterred, Boniface broke the silence. In a loud voice, he ordered the kneeling tribesmen to look closely at the base of the felled oak. There, springing out of the ground from between the roots of the oak tree, was a tender young fir tree, about knee high.

Boniface explained that Odin, Thor and their other gods had fallen with the oak but that Boniface’s God had given them this little tree which never loses its leaves and is full of life even in the depths of winter. He pointed out to them that the Fir tree’s leaves pointed upwards to heaven. He explained that this tree had evergreen leaves to remind them that the Christian Triune God’s love for them was everlasting.

At the first Christmas after this , Boniface brought a fir tree indoors into church, a symbol of Christ’s everlasting love.

Because of the Benedictine’s efforts, the Germanic tribes were converted to Christianity.

At the first Christmas after this event, Boniface brought a fir ree indoors into church, a symbol of Christ’s everlasting love.

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The New Traditional Catholic Architecture

Duncan G. Stroik is an American architect, Professor of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture and founding editor of the Sacred Architecture Journal.

In this exclusive REGINA Magazine interview, Duncan Stroik discusses what’s happening today, at the cultural nexus where Catholic culture and architecture meet.

Q. Do you think that Catholic church architecture is at a turning point in America today? If so, why?

The movement towards traditional Catholic architecture is certainly building momentum in the United States. There are many bishops, pastors, and lay faithful who support the movement, and a growing number of architects with the understanding and training to design beautiful churches.

However, the modernist mentality also continues to influence some parishes, liturgical consultants, and architects. It is a constant tension experienced in each new building project, but I believe more people are becoming aware of the need for beauty and tradition.

Q. Where do you find the greatest support for this classical architecture movement?

I find that younger bishops, clergy, and laity are enthusiastic in their support of the traditions of the Church, not limited to architecture, but also including music, sacred art, and all aspects of liturgy. Those middle-aged and younger grew up with the “brave new world” of abstraction and so-called liturgical participation and have found it unfulfilling.

Those middle-aged and younger grew up with the “brave new world” of abstraction and so-called liturgical participation and have found it unfulfilling.

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Q. From whence does the impetus for this movement arise?

I believe it comes from a rediscovery of love for the tradition and the artistic patrimony of the Church. The experience of living in traditional cities also reinforces the movement towards Classical architecture, while the experience of the recent decades of architecture encourages us to seek what has been lost.

The experience of living in traditional cities also reinforces the movement towards Classical architecture.

Q. You founded a journal on church architecture, which you have been editing for 15 years. Can you tell us about why you created the journal?

The Sacred Architecture Journal was conceived in response to the many phone calls and letters I have received from pastors and laity requesting literature to read or architects to hire. The people of God have expressed a great desire for an architectural publication which will draw on the riches of the Catholic patrimony and articulate the principles for a sacramental architecture.

Q. Is this extending outside the US, to your knowledge?

It is extending to England to some extent. Europe remains in the hands of the cultural elite. Africa, Asia and South America are next, though. The economics have made it difficult for them to build but that will change eventually.

It is extending to England to some extent. Europe remains in the hands of the cultural elite. Africa, Asia and South America are next, though.

Q. What is the roadblock in many countries?

The Catholic faithful in most countries would prefer the tradition, they just don’t think they can have it due to the control of art and architecture by the cultural elites.

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A respected cleric pointed out to me that while we have drama, music and art critics in our major journals there is little serious criticism of contemporary church architecture. Thus the intention of this journal is to sponsor substantive debate about this crucial subject.

Q. Where can you be reached?

I can be reached through my website at http://www.stroik.com. The journal is located at http://www.sacredarchitecture.org

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Thomas Aquinas College Chapel exterior, California

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Surmounting the ‘Faceless, Ominous Ramparts’ of Modernism A Field Guide to the New Catholic Architecture

by Enzo G. Selvaggi

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ou’ve felt it -- the coldness of cement-washed walls; the barrenness of faceless paintings; the vertigo of bizarrelyangled ceilings. Whether you put it in words, or whether, like me, you have simply been mired in a mélange of confusion, anger, sadness, and shock – you, dear reader, have felt it.

his language, Stroik successfully argues that Sacred Architecture is not merely a preference for an aesthetic, but a means whereby the timeless truths of Catholic theology are communicated to the faithful.

To the architect, designer, and layman alike, Stroik shows how a church building is a “catechism in paint, mosaic and stone,” supporting all the Sacraments, the tenets of the Faith, public liturgy, and private devotion.

He then demonstrates how Modernism has dulled or in fact eviscerated the sense of the sacred in church buildings. Nevertheless, Stroik maintains that a return to the principles which made the constructions of centuries “sacred” to the senses is both possible and necessary in our time.

A return to the principles which made the constructions of centuries “sacred” to the senses is both possible and necessary in our time.

Sacred Place takes a polemical tone almost by default, given the predominance of Modernist architecture in the Church today. This is inevitable, as Stroik must reiterate what had been understood for centuries -- à voir, millennia -- in a way that is palatable to the contemporary reader.

The Modernist takeover of our visual and architectural patrimony and its legacy is fully metastasized. Its appropriation of Sacred Art and Architecture in the Church is monolithic. Its faceless, ominous ramparts are insurmountable.

Or are they?

You’ve felt it -- the coldness of cement-washed walls; the barrenness of faceless paintings; the vertigo of bizarrely-angled ceilings.

A Catechism in Paint, Mosaic and Stone Duncan Stroik’s The Church Building As A Sacred Place makes a persuasive case for, and offers a way to reclaim, the traditions that have defined sacred architecture for centuries. Eminently accessible in the clarity and ease of

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Perhaps not since Rose’s Ugly as Sin, or Bess’s Til We Have Built Jerusalem, has writing on this topic been so clear: “[T]o compare even the most

critically-acclaimed modern churches with typical early Christian or It is critical that architects also understand that churches are sacramental, Renaissance examples”, writes Stroik, “is to call into question any notion of devotional, symbolic, and, above all, sacred. progress in the arts.”

Stroik smartly avoids entanglement in the knots of all-too-familiar liturgical debates, deftly avoiding the false antagonisms created by Modernist liturgists. Throughout, he elegantly and consistently orients the discussion to the fullness of Sacred Architecture. He reminds us all that a church space should support all seven Sacraments, respect their hierarchy, understand their inter-relation, and explicate their spiritual worth.

Stroik smartly avoids entanglement in the knots of all-too-familiar liturgical debates, deftly avoiding the false antagonisms created by Modernist liturgists.

Marginalizing the Sacred If Sacred Architecture is to be recovered, the causes of its marginalization must be exposed. Stroik critiques the fruits of the “open door policy” of Vatican II. He also calls into question the guiding principles of architectural Modernism in Environment and Art as Catholic Worship, and Built of Living Stones: Art, Architecture and Worship – both published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Stroik ringingly affirms the necessity of a sacral architectural perspective in creating a truly sacred space -- even more, a space that is truly reflective of the fullness of the Catholic faith. In peeling away the layers of complexity, Stroik gives poignant voice to our long-suffering intuition: “The worshiper is left with fragments and disharmony. The focus of the church is always in question. [..] the iconoclasm of the [Modernist church] offers us complicated abstract parts rather than richness of iconography, materials, colour, and meaning.”

What is the problem with these documents? Stroik observes that their primary failing is their overly “liturgical” focus. He convincingly argues that liturgy is only one of the concerns that a church architect must consider.

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A Practical Guide for Rebuilding the Catholic World

Stroik closes with a series of predictions for the future of Catholic architecture that I hope will come to fruition. Stroik predicts the long-awaited demise of The church is not just a space of utility for our human, liturgical needs. The Modernism, the return of lost sheep to the fold and the building of new towns, “ultimate patron” of the architect, writes Stroik, “is the Father above, to whom schools, colleges, and convents in the Catholic world. I think this is a worthy goal he must eventually answer.” This perspective serves as a guide for what is, in all Catholics of good will can commit to. my opinion, the most valuable aspect of Stroik’s work. Sacred Place is also a practical guide for Catholic architects, clerics, and laymen interested in the Sacred Place closes with a series of predictions for the future of Catholic revival at the local level. The experienced Stroik is sensitive to the economic architecture that I hope will come to fruition. concerns of any major construction or renovation project. Hence, he examines every aspect -- from finding the right architect to planning a reasonable budget Works Cited: -- of a successful project.

Stroik’s book is full of mature optimism as well as a lively hope smoldering, despite the bleak reality we must all live in.

Overall, Stroik’s book is full of mature optimism as well as a lively hope smoldering, despite the bleak reality we must all live in. Sacred Place points to the ebbing tide of reaction to Modernism as well as new trends of appreciation for all that Sacred Architecture signifies and can accomplish.

Construction 50 | Page of St. John the Apostle in Leesburg, VA

• Bess, Philip. ‘Till We Have Built Jerusalem: Architecture, Urbanism, and the Sacred.

Wilmington: Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2006. ISBN-10: 1932236961 • Rose, Michael. Ugly as Sin: Why They Changed Our Churches from Sacred Places to Meeting Spaces and How We Can Change Them Back Again. Manchester: Sophia Institute Press, 2001. Print. ISBN-10: 1928832369 • Stroik, Duncan. The Church Building as a Sacred Place: Beauty, Transcendence, and the Eternal. Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2012. Print. ISBN-10:1595250379

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A Romantic Christmas

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photo by anoldent

An Irish Romance

by Tracy O’Dwyer

It’s Christmas again. Here I am, snug in Ireland, married to Liam, the man I love. But it was not always so.

I was happy home alone on a Saturday night; I was even happy when I had no date for Valentine’s Day. I didn’t need someone else to make me happy.

The philosophy behind how Liam and I came together is something I think about a lot. Especially now during the Christmas season, as it has to do with knowing what is truly important. This is a hugely important part of who we are, how we met and how our success story evolved and came to be. We were – in our separate lives -- preparing ourselves to become a better people for our future spouse.

I was amazed by the holiness of some of the incredible guys on Catholic Match. This helped me to create a picture of what a good, holy man looked like. This helped me prepare for my ‘Joseph,’ my Liam.

Life is funny. Every decision you make -- small or big, right or wrong – leads to exactly where you belong. You must have faith; as long as you do the right thing -- even if it’s not popular -- God will take care of your needs. You will see the greater picture when the time arrives to understand.

What does this mean? Simply this – if you are spending this Christmas alone and if you think you are ready now, you probably aren’t, quite yet. Or maybe your future spouse is not yet ready.

It’s all in God’s timing. Plain and simple. It’s not on your clock at all. There is a right time, a right place and the right person. You could be 20, you could be 40 or you could be 60.

Liam and I both know this, because we have felt the hand of God preparing us for the day I stepped off the plane in Dublin.

If you are spending this Christmas alone and if you think you are ready now, you probably aren’t, quite yet. Or maybe your future spouse is not yet ready.

Alone In the Windy City In 2003, I had recently moved from Texas to Chicago, where I had no Catholic friends. My parish had no young adult group. Ditto, other parishes.

Searching “Young Adult Catholic groups” on Google yielded dating websites.

I wasn’t interested, but signed up for a free membership on Catholic Match anyway.

A few months later I found what I was looking for, in the most surprising of places -- a community of Catholic friends all across the globe in the forums on Catholic Match. To this day, I remain friends with so many of these wonderful people.

But dating? Well, I knew I had to break my cycle of wrong relationships. I was a good person, doing the right things, but ended up disappointed, time after time. I knew it was the people I was choosing, but it took some time of personal discernment to realize that the common denominator in any relationship was me!

I had to begin again, this time asking God for His will for my life. (Asking God for His will is not asking for the things you want. Because we know that God will give you the things you need; your wants are completely different.)

Without those light bulb moments and the ‘Ah ha’s’ it would have been more likely that Liam and I would have completely passed each other by.

I was over-the-moon happy, on my own, as a single mother, with an amazing daughter, supportive family, and the best group of friends one could ask for.

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I was amazed by the holiness of some of the incredible guys on Catholic Match. This helped me to create a picture of what a good, holy man looked like. This helped me prepare for my ‘Joseph,’ my Liam.

Preparing for Marriage We prepare for weddings, parenthood, sending our children to college. We plan retirement and Christmas dinners. So why don’t more people prepare themselves for their future spouses?

My advice for single people? Take the time now to prepare for one of your most important decisions. Prepare now to help you choose the right spouse. Spend the time working on yourself to be a better person.

All the while I was in Chicago, half a world away my future husband, Liam was taking care of his dying mother. He spent 23.5 hours by her bedside with only a 30 minute break to eat and do chores. Feeding, clothing, bathing his mother, while also taking care of his father. He cooked, cleaned, scrubbed floors, did the laundry, the ironing, the grocery shopping.

This is the man who sacrificed his life during his prime -- his wants, his needs -- to care for another. He was preparing for his mother’s death and all along unbeknownst to him preparing for a spouse. How? By being a selfless person who knew exactly what it meant to give of himself, even under the worst circumstances and to put another person first.

This is the man who sacrificed his life during his prime -- his wants, his needs -- to care for another. He was preparing for his mother’s death and all along unbeknownst to him preparing for a spouse.

All the time I was busy with life, in nursing school, raising a young daughter on my own and in personal discernment so I could be the best me I could be.

This is our TRUE success story. Little by little, we were becoming better people separately, day by day praying for one another, listening to God’s will and preparing ourselves step by step.

God knew He would bring us together, when the time was right.

August 27th 2008 That morning, I stumbled upon someone’s review of my Catholic Match profile; his name was Liam and he lived in Ireland. Glorious travel photos, hilarious captions on photos of miniature donkeys in Ireland and his own little doggie ‘Oisin.’

Laughing out loud, I was charmed with his personality. Even though I wasn’t interested, for the first time in my life, I made the choice to send him an emote to him first.

The next morning it all began. A weeks-long series of email and then finally skyping. This also started our on-line game playing of checkers and backgammon, betting on who would win.

First, a trip to Rome, if I won. ( I lost.) Then, a trip to Ireland, if I won. ( I won.)

The very next day, I had a ticket to Ireland with my name on it. And that’s

how it came to be that I stepped off the plane in Dublin.

Two Completely Different Halves

He was a perfect gentleman. We had a lovely time. I stayed in a charming hotel in Dublin, and saw all the sights. But it wasn’t until I darkened the door of an Irish old folks’ home that I knew.

Liam and I are complete opposites. Two completely different halves that come together beautifully to form an amazing whole. I don’t know how, it just works.

After years of taking care of his father after his mother had died, Liam could no longer do it on his own. With great pain, he’d brought Martin to a nearby old folks’ home. And this is where it happened. The “You’ll just know moment.” That moment you look at someone and your mouth falls to the floor and you say.. “He’s the One”.

He’s left-brained and wicked smart with three degrees and post grad, and I’m right-brained -- a ‘Jill of All Trades’ who can make a five course meal out of string.

I watched him take out his father’s night clothes and neatly fold them on the bed -- which he’d made up for his dad, as he does every night. When I saw him put his arms lovingly around his dad’s shoulders, I got it.

This is a man, I saw, who puts others before himself. This is a man who will forever take care of someone regardless of sickness or health. I knew, that in good times and bad, Liam was capable and willing to put another first.

I watched him take out his father’s night clothes and neatly fold them on the bed -- which he’d made up for his dad, as he does every night. When I saw him put his arms lovingly around his dad’s shoulders, I got it.

A Plane Ticket with My Name On It

He’s a night owl; I’m an early bird. He is kind and quiet; I’m kinda loud. He rarely has a bad day; he throws me chocolate when I’m cranky. He irons and makes the beds; I do laundry. He loves the MALL; I hate the place.

He’s left-brained and wicked smart with three degrees and post grad, and I’m right-brained ---a Jill of all trades who can make a five course meal out of string.

He thinks I’m a bad driver; I get car sick when he drives. He likes his bread buttered on each side; I won’t accept my sandwich unless it’s cut corner to corner. He makes my coffee every morning; I make him cupcakes. He’s usually always right; I usually think I’m always right. He takes forever in the grocery store and buys items not on the list; I’m in and out and only get what I need. He’s got the patience of a Saint; me, not so much. I love chocolate; he steals my chocolate.

I left Ireland on December 15th, not knowing if I’d see Liam again. I was sorta sad, but not too bothered. I am not the Cloud 9 type anyway. I hadn’t fallen in love, per se. He called while I was still on the plane. He was sad as well. He wished me a safe flight.

He loves and adores me; I love and adore him. We are well and truly married.

Back in Chicago, we talked the next day. Liam asked me how I felt about how everything went. He said he didn’t ask whilst I was there because he didn’t want to put any pressure on me. He’d thought that ‘a good think about it’ would be good for me. And he was exactly right in doing so. It was mature and responsible and another way of putting himself on the back burner.

Four days before our first contact on Catholic Match, Liam had given up.

He’d received a renewal notice and decided to cancel.

The next day Liam sent me another plane ticket to Ireland with my name on it. The flight was leaving in just 6 days; I hadn’t even unpacked from the first trip. That began a series of transatlantic flights for me and my daughter – and my mom, too.

Postscript

But God had other plans. Instead, Liam accidentally clicked ‘Renewal’ instead of ‘Cancel.’

Three days later, Liam found me.

Indeed, God works in strange and wonderful ways.

Liam flew my mother from NYC to Ireland so she could give him the once over. Apparently he passed with flying colors. On March 12th 2009, after Easter Mass and our ham dinner, Liam got down on one knee at the dinner table in front of my mother, my daughter and his father.

Would I marry him?

Yes, I told him. We were married four months later on August 15th 2009, on The Feast of the Assumption of Mary.

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R.

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The ‘Try-On’ Wife After 15 years, they were breaking up. And it was Christmastime.

My sister, normally the accommodating type, had drawn the line there.

No, she told Drew. Not until she moved out.

“Can you believe they’re going to use my dressing room as a nursery?” Megan said suddenly. I stood in the doorway of her pearwood-lined, ultimate luxury statement. The hushed lighting softly illuminated the thick carpet, now heaped with a messy pile of designer shoes.

To be honest, I was awash in a sea of gutwrenching emotions, myself. Rage at Drew for his callousness. Pity for Megan in her helplessness.

Indignation at how this was how it had to be.

And something else, too. Something even more uncomfortable.

I

stood in the spacious bedroom of the brick Mc Mansion, admiring my surroundings. The expensive furniture.

The adjoining ‘master bath’ with every imaginable luxury, all in marble. The carefully-matched carpets and silk drapes — not too girly, but elegant, sober and respectable.

Just the kind of place that a successful St. Louis businessman might lay his head every night. And well he might, it seemed. He had earned every penny, as they say.

Drew would continue to sleep there, too. It was my sister who was moving out.

She was nineteen when she began working for Drew as a secretary. He was five year older, a fledgling builder in a real estate market poised on the brink of expansion. A year later, they’d moved in together, and proceeded to build a spectacularly successful business.

Megan is very pretty – slender, blonde, sweetnatured, she takes after my mother’s side of the family. I take after our dad – dark-haired, solid, hard-working. Mom tried to warn her about living together, but Megan wouldn’t hear a word of it.

Truth be told, we laughed about this in private.

Bitter laughter, really. After all, our parents divorced when we were kids, so neither of them really had the right to say anything about our life choices.

As for Dad, he knew better. Never said a word.

After all, our parents divorced when we were kids, so neither of them really had the right to say anything about our life choices.

I stood at the window, looking at Megan’s brandnew Volvo SUV outside, gleaming in the winter sunlight. This was Megan’s ‘consolation prize,’ for her non-divorce.

“Pretty nice, right?” she asked, her voice heavy with the unaccustomed irony. She was packing,

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her matching Coach luggage overflowing with the loot of her 15-year relationship. A dozen expensive handbags lay on her bad.

I picked one up, a $2000 beauty – all creamy beige luxury.

Megan snorted. “That was for Christmas last year. About the same time he started dating Gabriella.” She turned away from me then, but I thought I saw a tear gleaming in her eye.

I sighed.

Gabriella was pregnant. That happens pretty fast when you’re 23 years old, especially if you’ve been having sex regularly with someone else’s boyfriend. Like Megan, Gabriella is a delicate blond. Unlike my sister, Gabriella hasn’t been on the Pill for 15 years.

Gabriella was pregnant. That happens pretty fast when you’re 23 years old, especially if you’ve been having sex regularly with someone else’s boyfriend.

So, Drew and Gabriella will be married in a local mega-church next Saturday. Gabriella is barely showing, so her dewy youth will be resplendent in her strapless gown – a feast for the eyes of the 500 invited guests. Their wedding photos would be taken against ‘a stunning backdrop of brilliantly-lighted holiday trees,’ too.

We knew this because Drew had inadvertently forwarded Gabriella’s breathless e-mail to my sister, in the chaos which had immediately ensued after his own email announcing his upcoming nuptials to his live-in girlfriend, my hapless sister.

This was uncharacteristic of the careful, business-like Drew. But he was so giddy with joy these days that Drew was making mistakes. This morning on the way out, he’d forgotten himself for a moment with Megan.

Would it be okay, he’d asked, if Gabriella’s gown could be delivered to the Mc Mansion that day?

On the way over in her Volvo, Megan had said something uncharacteristically big-sister like.

“You don’t think this can happen to you, right?” she’d said, backing out of my condo driveway.

I was taken aback. Far more street-wise, I’d made sure I got my degree in finance. At 29, I had a good job and a stable relationship with Brendan.

We were talking about moving in together, in fact. Though now obviously wasn’t the right time to discuss this with Megan.

“I was a ‘try-on’ wife, you know,” she’d continued quietly, as the beautiful car swept through the suburban streets decorated for Christmas.

“Drew is a conservative guy. He wasn’t sure he could handle a wife and kids, so he used me to see whether he could do that.”

“And now he is. All ready, that is,” I replied bitterly. I hated conservative rich guys. Brendan wasn’t like that. He was a regular guy, proudly wearing his scruffy beard to his night job in a cubicle – answering IT questions for idiot babyboomers.

I hated conservative rich guys. Brendan wasn’t like that. He was a regular guy, proudly wearing his scruffy beard to his night job in a cubicle – answering IT questions for idiot baby-boomers.

“I thought about leaving him when I was your age,” she said simply. “I really wanted kids. And he didn’t.”

“That sure has changed,” I snapped. Drew was positively glowing with pride when he’d stopped by the Mc Mansion.

How could a man change so much? It wouldn’t have been so bad for Megan now if she did have kids. At least she would have something, now, besides a pile of luxury goods.

“You know,” Megan said quietly, “I know three other women who this has happened to.”

Three other women stupid enough to become a rich man’s plaything, I thought. As if reading my thoughts, she smiled sadly and looked at me.

“They didn’t even get a Volvo. Two of them had

to pay for the movers themselves. All of them are in their mid-thirties…”

too. And you will be just like me. Middle-aged.

Alone. No kids. Nothing.”

“You can have kids until you’re fifty now,” I said stoutly. “You have time.”

Mascaraed tears were coursing down her face, but Megan didn’t care. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand.

Megan had smiled sadly. “I’m thirty-six years old.

The chances that I will find a man who wants kids in the next couple of years are pretty slim.”

“You think you’re above all this, right? Smarter than me?”

“So, you don’t need a man,” I retorted. “You can get pregnant without one.”

I didn’t quite know what to say. Of course, she was right. I gulped, and took the plunge.

Megan didn’t say anything. We drove in silence for a few minutes. When she finally spoke, her voice was choked with emotion.

“So what should I do? Wait until he asks me to marry him? We’ve been together for a year…”

“Listen to me. I am in no shape to have kids on my own. I’ve been on the Pill for 15 years. It would take me months of hormone therapy to get pregnant now. I am a secretary looking for a job in a bad economy. A secretary that’s moving back in with her divorced mother. Get real.

This sucks.”

“I am a 37-year old secretary looking for a job in a bad economy. A secretary that’s moving back in with her divorced mother. Get real.

This sucks.”

“I know it does,” I said soothingly, trying to head her off at the pass. “You’re just upset now.”

“No,” Megan replied sharply. “This is about you, too. Don’t tell me you’re not thinking of moving in with Brendan.”

“Brendan’s different,” I said shortly. The conversation was going in the wrong direction for me.

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

“You don’t know.”

“Mind your own business.”

Her breath drew in sharply at the rebuke. I was instantly apologetic.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It’s just that I don’t want to talk about Brendan now.”

She’d sighed, then, and said no more, as we pulled into the driveway of the Mc Mansion. The front door was beautifully decorated, by Megan, of course, who never failed to make a fuss over the holidays.

Five stressful hours later, my sister burst into the library, where I was packing books.

“You think you can’t get him unless you let him move in with you, right?” Megan said suddenly, her arms full of linens.

“No,” I said reflexively. Though, of course she was right.

“And you think you’re better than me because you went to college, too.”

“No!” I replied heatedly. But Megan was too far gone to listen. She dropped the linens on the polished wooden floor. Her face was red.

“You think that because you and Brendan are ‘equals’ that none of this can happen to you.

You think I’m just a dumb blond who got used by a rich guy. You think your college degree will protect you.

“Well, let me tell you something, little sister.

Your job can disappear like that. Your man can,

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“… and if he hasn’t asked, then he’s not gonna just because you are living together! TRUST ME! I KNOW THIS!” I looked at Megan, surrounded by the detritus of her life. It was true. The tears came to me, unbidden.

she laughed humorlessly. “Look, I’m not saying Brendan is a bad guy. I’m saying he’s a baby. And he doesn’t want to step up to the plate.”

“H-his parents are divorced, too,” I mumbled.

Megan let out a sudden peal of laughter.

Shocked, I gaped at her.

“Everybody’s parents are divorced!” she exclaimed, her eyes twinkling with merriment.

“That’s no excuse for not growing up.”

Later, as we drove slowly through the dark, snowy streets, Christmas lights sparkling at every door, I found myself wondering aloud how many unhappy couples lived behind the facades of these Mc Mansions.

“What the hell am I SUPPOSED TO DO?” I shouted suddenly.

As we drove slowly through the dark, snowy streets, Christmas lights sparkling at every door, I found myself wondering aloud how many unhappy couples lived behind the facades of these Mc Mansions.

The question hung in the air between us.

“Who knows?” Megan shrugged, carelessly.

Megan shook her head slowly. She sighed heavily.

“What are you going to do now?” I asked, curious.

“Listen, I know exactly how you feel. You think somehow your love will be different. That everything will work out. And you keep taking the Pill, because it’s the responsible thing to do.

And you work, and you hope. ..

You think somehow your love will be different.

That everything will work out. And you keep taking the Pill, because it’s the responsible thing to do. And you work, and you hope…

“Well, lemme tell you. It’s NO GOOD. And Brendan is no different than Drew. They get married when they get to a point when they feel like they can support a family.IF they get to that point,” she looked at me meaningfully.

“Brendan works for a living!” I said hotly.

“Yes. But does he earn enough to support you and a baby?”

“No, but I’m not expecting him to.”

“So, you think that you’ll do it all, right? You’ll get pregnant when Brendan comes around to the idea. You’ll take the hormones. Endure the pregnancy. Have the baby. Then you’ll go out and support the baby – and maybe Brendan too, right?”

I knew she was right. But I really didn’t want to admit it. I stood there glaring at her defiantly, tears coursing down my own cheeks.

“Listen,” she began, more kindly. “I know you’re scared. You’re at a make-or-break point with Brendan now, right?”

“Y-yes,” I said, miserably.

“You think it’s time to get to the next stage, right?”

“He does, too,” I said helplessly. “It’s his idea. He says we can save money. And be together.”

“Right. This way he doesn’t have to worry about you going out on him. And his rent bill goes down by half.”

I looked down, ashamed. Brendan had said almost these exact words.

“Plus, you’ll probably do his laundry, right?”

“Now?” she echoed, sighing. “I’m going back to Mom’s. Back to where I started when I was nineteen years old. And I’m going to Mass.”

“Ch-church?!”

“W-why?”

I

spluttered,

taken

aback.

“Because I want to. I’ve started going to a Latin Mass, downtown.”

“In downtown St Louis?” This was not normal for my suburban sister. I would’ve bet she could count the number of times she’d been downtown by herself on one hand. “Why there?”

“Because it’s beautiful,” she sighed. “And right now, I need some beauty in my life.”

I thought about that. I could understand how she was feeling. The ugliness of the strip-malled road we had turned onto suddenly seemed oppressive.

“Why don’t you come with me?” she said quietly.

“We could go, for Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Bring Mom, too.”

Maybe I will. Though Brendan probably won’t want to come.

But maybe I will, anyway.

R.

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Why You Shouldn’t Sleep With Your Boyfriend

by Beverly DeSoto

Step Five: You and your boyfriend need to decide about marriage. Go to church, and pray for strength. A good first step is to sit down with your parish priest and ask his advice, together. He will probably tell you to enroll in Pre-Cana classes, which are designed to help you discern and prepare for the sacrament. Take it one day at a time, but move forward steadily towards your goal of a true Catholic marriage.

If you are playing the serial monogamy game, you should know that after a certain age, men settle down and marry a younger woman – if they are successful enough. Many women get fat, bitter and depressed. (Or, they spend jillions on cosmetic treatments, marry a guy who is years younger and settle down to life as a successful cougar. NOT. Does the name ‘Demi Moore’ ring a bell?)

What a Catholic Husband Knows Is your boyfriend sacramental marriage material?

What’s a ‘sacramental marriage,’ you ask?

First, do NOT read this article if you can’t handle the cold, hard truth. Go back to your Vampire Diaries.

Second, Catholics love sex. If you don’t believe me, read a little European history. Oh, and look at your own family. (Nuff said? Okay.)

Third, why on earth is sex such a big deal? It would be far easier for Catholics to just relax, already, and do what everyone else is doing – guilt free! Right?

Wrong. Read on, if you dare…

Not About Your Self-Esteem You can relax, because I am not going to deliver a lecture on your selfesteem. Actually, I couldn’t care less about your self -esteem.

What I care about is you spending your youth bouncing from one guy to the next. It’s called ‘serial monogamy’ – and it’s all the rage with people in the 20-40 age group.

After that, the men settle down and marry a younger woman, if they are successful enough. Women get fat, bitter and depressed. (Or, they spend jillions on cosmetic treatments, marry a guy who is years younger and settle down to life as a successful cougar. NOT. Does the name ‘Demi Moore’ ring a bell?)

For 2000 years, the Church has regarded marriage as a sacrament, an outward sign of God’s grace. This is in contrast to most religions, where marriage is a contract, which can be terminated when one or the other partner is unhappy.

Marriage was instituted – like all other sacraments – as a way to help you get to heaven. A Catholic husband knows what his job is: to help his wife and children get to heaven.

That’s his Prime Directive: He needs to do whatever needs to be done to help his wife and children be holy.

Why? Because he loves them, and he wants eternal life for them and himself.

This is why he works hard to earn a living. Not so he can have all the latest toys. That is called selfishness – just the same as you blowing all your money shopping.

This is why he insists on practicing your Faith. Not because he’s weird.

Because he knows that is the way to grow closer and stay in the state of grace.

I am not going to deliver a lecture on your self-esteem. Actually, I couldn’t care less about your self -esteem.

So, how do you avoid this fate worse than death?

Excellent question!

Step One: Be honest. Admit that you want to get married and have a family.

You don’t have to tell anyone this. Just admit it to yourself. (There, now doesn’t that feel better?)

Step Two: Look at your boyfriend. Is he sacramental marriage material?

Step Three: Learn what sacramental marriage material looks like. (See: “What a Catholic Husband Knows” below.)

Step Four: Repeat Step Two. If your answer is ‘yes,’ then you need to exercise some self-control for the sake of your future marriage. (See: “Re-Virginization”) If your answer is ‘no,’ then what are you doing wasting your time like this?

(See: “How To Get On the Right Track For a Happy Future”)

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This is why he helps you whenever he can. Not because he’s a fair-minded feminist. Because he knows you need help, and he wants to make your life better. Why? Because that will help you be holier—and get you to heaven.

This is why he avoids pornography, excessive drinking, gambling, drugs and womanizing. Not because he’s boring. Because he knows all of that is ‘sin’ — the road to deep unhappiness for you, for him and for your future children.

So, does your boyfriend know all this? Do you think he is capable of

committing himself to this goal, for the rest of his life?

If your answer is ‘yes,’ then you need to exercise some self-control for the sake of your future marriage. (See: “Re-Virginization” below.)

You will have a LOT of ‘splaining to do, but his reaction will tell you A LOT about whether he is, indeed, sacramental marriage material.

If he is surprised, chagrined but ultimately respectful, go to Step Five.

If your answer is ‘no,’ then what are you doing wasting your time like this?

(See: “How To Get On the Right Track For a Happy Future” below.)

If he gets angry, sulks or tries to over-ride your wishes, see: “How to Get On the Right Track For a Happy Future.”

A Catholic husband avoids pornography, excessive drinking, gambling, drugs and womanizing. Not because he’s boring.

Explain that you want to keep seeing him, but that your sexual relationship needs to stop unless and until you are married.

Re-Virginization

How to Get On the Right Track for a Happy Future

It looks like you have a great future husband! So, let’s say you do marry this great guy. How are you going to keep your love affair going? Through the jealousies, the stress, the diapers and babies crying at 4 am? Through losing your figure? Losing his job? Bad medical diagnoses? Sick children?

Aged parents needing care? Money problems?

First, if your boyfriend has agreed to abstain from sex, stop right here and go to Step Five above.

Seems impossible, and I have no doubt you have seen all kinds of relationships and marriages train wreck. So what’s the difference between those and the old couples you see who have been happily married for 50 years?

Well, science has now proven what we all knew: It turns out that sex is key to happy marriages. A slew of recent studies confirm that married couples who practice their religion have the best sex.

More to the point, all kinds of studies show that delaying sex makes for happier marriages. Here’s just one: A 2010 Journal of Family Psychology study involved 2,035 married participants in an online assessment of marriage called “RELATE.” According to the study, people who waited until marriage: • rated sexual quality 15% higher than people who had premarital sex • rated relationship stability as 22% higher • rated satisfaction with their relationships 20% higher The benefits were about half as strong for couples who became sexually active later in their relationships but before marriage.[i] A slew of recent studies confirm that married couples who practice their religion have the best sex.

Seems reasonable? But impossible? Because there is no such thing as ‘revirginization’?

Take a deep breath. I know that you are already sleeping with him. And that stopping this seems like something you cannot do.

Actually, there is a chemical reason for this. It’s because your oxytocin level is very high. Oxytocin is called the ‘bonding’ hormone; women secrete oxytocin in lovemaking and breastfeeding. It’s the reason why your girlfriend can’t leave her bum of a boyfriend. It’s also the reason why battered women go back to the slimebags who beat them and cheat on them.

It’s not because women are stupid. It’s because of oxytocin.

It’s the reason why your girlfriend can’t leave her bum of a boyfriend. It’s also the reason why battered women go back to the slimebags who beat them and cheat on them. It’s not because women are stupid. It’s because of oxytocin.

So, how do you fight the chemical in your bloodstream?

Don’t trigger it.

Oxytocin levels rise when women come into contact with men they have slept with. The closer he gets, the more your oxytocin levels rise. The higher your oxytocin levels, the less able you are to think objectively about your loved one. You are bonded to him.

Hmmm, could this be why traditional cultures insisted that courting couples never be left alone?

So, now what?

Now you need to talk to your man. Tell him that you love him, and that you want a future with him. Assure him that there is nobody else in your life.

Explain that you want to keep seeing him, but that your sexual relationship needs to stop unless and until you are married.

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However, if you have decided that this guy isn’t for you, you need to end this bad relationship and free yourself for a good relationship that will lead to a happy, Catholic marriage. This isn’t easy, but you have to face facts: you have already wasted enough time as it is.

Step One: No contact. Not even once. Do not try to be friends. Do not waste your time trying to make him happy. Soon enough, he will find some else and will have moved on – probably before you are over him. (You can pray for him of course.)

Step Two: Go to confession. Get this off your chest. Ask the priest for his guidance on how to get yourself on the right road. Establish a regular prayer routine whereby you focus your requests for help in finding a good, Catholic spouse. Pray for strength and perseverance.

Step Three: Focus your efforts on finding a good, Catholic man. Here’s a few ideas: Polish up a profile on Catholic Match or Ave Maria Singles. Research Catholic events or conferences you would like to attend. Find yourself a vital parish. (Hint: Latin Mass parishes are teeming with young adults.) Get involved with your parish doing all sorts of great religious and social events.

You need to end this bad relationship and free yourself for a good relationship that will lead to a happy, Catholic marriage. This isn’t easy, but you have to face facts: you have already wasted enough time as it is.

And pray that God sends you a good, Catholic spouse.

R.

Catholicism 101 Theology of the Body: The Teachings of Blessed John Paul II

by David Bellusci, O.P., Ph.D.

F

rom 1979 to 1984, Blessed John Paul II, in his regular Wednesday audiences, delivered teachings on the human body in relation to love, marriage, holiness and God. In an age when moral confusion, relativism and indifference has stifled spiritual growth, he recognized the crucial need to clarify and deepen an authentic understanding of the human body in God’s plan.

The late Pope’s teachings on the human body in relation to love, marriage, holiness and God. John Paul II’s teachings are Catholic not only in the sense that they were transmitted to us by the Vicar of Christ, but they are truly “universal“: they hold as objectively true for all people — even if not everyone accepts them.

John Paul II’s wisdom is reflected in how we reach God through our bodies in the state of marriage or the celibate life, which means making choices that sanctify us, even if these choices are difficult, and require sacrifice.

God meant us to be holy, in communion with Him, whether in marriage or the celibate life.

These teachings are truly “universal“: they hold as objectively true for all people — even if not everyone accepts them.

He begins with the family as the basis of holiness. We turn to St. Matthew’s Gospel 19:3-8, with particular importance attached to the word “beginning.”

The Pharisees ask whether it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife. Jesus draws his answer from the Book of Genesis 2:24.

Genesis 1-2 is all about beginnings, the original order in which God created the world. The question the Pharisees ask about divorce contrasts fundamentally with God’s original plan. John Paul II then shows that Genesis is the original plan of God and reflects God’s plan for the happiness of man.

It is not in the fallen state, the disorder as we know it since the Fall that our answers to moral questions will be found, but what God originally planned as we find in Genesis 2:24. If Genesis represents God’s original plan, then, the state of affairs in the world today, or even the time of Jesus, was not how they were meant to be. Genesis constitutes the basis of the divine plan.

constitutes one flesh, and one flesh shows the intimate union between the two, man and woman. So, Jesus can state in St. Matthew’s Gospel, “what God has joined, man must not separate.” This is the answer Jesus gives to the Pharisees based on God’s original plan. Drawing from the book of Genesis John Paul II shows that the source of the law is God and not man, Jesus confirms the eternal law, the law that does not change.

So, Jesus can state in St. Matthew’s Gospel, “what God has joined, man must not separate.” This is the answer Jesus gives to the Pharisees based on God’s original plan.

Crucial in the creation story is the fact that man is created in the image of God, Genesis 1:27 and man is the only creature that is created in God’s image and likeness. Moreover, only in the creation of man and woman does God see the creation as “very good,” showing that only man receives his being from God. God’s creation of man, and man’s capacity to procreate have parallels. We see here the implications for the theology of the body: the body of man and woman created in God’s image is very good because they received their being from God, created in God’s image and likeness.

WEDDING PHOTO of Blessed John Paul II’s parents.

God’s creation of man, and man’s capacity to procreate have parallels.

John Paul II points out that by referring to Genesis 2:24, Christ is not only turning to original innocence–God’s original plan for the world–but also, the point of division that leads to original sin. Neither the man nor the woman feel any shame in this original state which suggests their complete innocence, Genesis 2:25.

The Fall of Man is linked to the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Although Man lost his innocence with the Fall, the original order intended

by God has not been lost. The sinfulness of man can only be explained in relation to our original state, but related to the story of original sin is also the story of redemption.

Although Man lost his innocence with the Fall, the original order intended

by God has not been lost.

In my next article, John Paul II draws from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans 8:23 where Jesus leads us from original sin to the redemption of our bodies.

THE GARDEN OF EDEN by Thomas Cole, 1828

If Genesis represents God’s original plan, then, the state of affairs in the world today, or even the time of Jesus, was not how they were meant to be. Genesis constitutes the basis of the divine plan.

God made them “male and female”… “the two become one flesh.” Both these verses go together: only a male and female can create the union that

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“But for Adam[f] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[g] and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib[h] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. (Creation of Eve, Genesis)

R.

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Transcendence: Christmas with the Traditional Orders

Christmas in Carmel

They are monastic superstars for a growing following of devotees of their Mystic Monk Coffee — an innovative small business that sustains the monks and their dream of building a monastery in the wilds of America’s Wyoming.

by Donna Sue Berry But they are also cloistered Carmelites, who observe strict contemplative rules. In this fascinating look behind the scenes, REGINA Magazine’s Donna Sue Berry takes you on a privileged visit to Christmas in Carmel, with the Mystic Monks.

and penance assisting countless other souls towards this same union.

Q. Father Prior, what do the words ‘Christmas in Carmel,’ mean to you?

The Carmelite life is a hidden life of loving intercession for the church and for the world. In Carmel, Advent is a time of even greater recollection as the monks spend yet more time in silence and solitude to prepare for the great mystery of Christmas. As such, Christmas arrives in Carmel after much preparation and anticipation. The joy a contemplative knows in his cloister at the birth of the Lord is difficult to clearly articulate as his entire vocation is one of waiting upon the Lord that the monk might “open when the Lord knocks” on his heart. Christmas in Carmel is a blessed time of tremendous joy and peace.

In Carmel, dating from the time of our holy Mother St Teresa of Avila, the Carmelites observe what we affectionately call “the child Jesus days of recollection.” This great and noble tradition has the entire community process in white mantles holding candles, with the prior carrying the child Jesus in a little manger, to a monk’s hermitage each evening that the father or brother may spend the next twenty-four hours in solitude and more intense prayer. This time of retreat is so special as the monk, together with the Virgin Mary, contemplates how meek and humble our God truly is as manifested in his nativity.

The Order of Carmel has its roots in the Old Testament when our hermit fathers, the sons of the prophets, spent centuries waiting for the coming Messiah prior to Christ. In some way, Carmelites today share in that waiting for Christ whether it be in the days of Advent leading to the celebration of Christmas, the Carmelite day where we wait to receive Jesus again the Blessed Sacrament at Holy Mass, or especially in our own lives where all is ordered towards attaining to mystical union with God and through prayer

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Q. Families have traditions during Advent leading up to the great celebration of our Lord’s birth. Can you tell me what traditions are observed by you and the Monks at the Monastery?

The Carmelites observe what we affectionately call “the child Jesus days of recollection.”

Another great tradition of our Carmel is that each evening, following mental prayer and before the evening collation (or small meal), the community gathers in the refectory for the chanting of the Veni, Veni Emmanuel around the burning Advent wreath. Oh how great is our expectation and our desire to prepare ourselves to receive our divine King on Christmas night!

Q. On an individual basis, can you each have certain devotions or “traditions” from your past life that you may keep while in the Monastery?

As Carmelite monks in the great tradition of the discalced reform, we enter the monastery to imitate particularly the Blessed Mother, but all the great Carmelites down through the ages. We do not seek to do anything new, or discover our own path to holiness; rather we joyfully embrace the glorious tradition of Carmel and its deep wellsprings of Marian spirituality and devotion. That being said, we recognize in the order of Carmel, manifested through our many saints and blesseds, that there is a myriad of Carmelite devotions, each reflecting an aspect of our Lady’s spirituality.

being moved by her tremendous love for God that grieved her so deeply when she considered those who turned the Holy Virgin and good St Joseph away as there was no room in the inn.

When we are clothed as novices, we take new names in religion such as “Fr Daniel Mary of Jesus Crucified.” The second part of our religious name might be thought of as a window into each monk’s individual devotion.

Q. And then on Christmas Day? Does it begin with Midnight Mass? More Masses said during the day? Is there a Feast…a dinner celebration?

In Carmel there is an ancient saying, “Carmelus totus Marianus est” (‘Carmel is totally Marian’).

Q. As out in the world there is always the exchange of gifts between loved ones, do you exchange gifts among each other in Carmel?

In Carmel we do not exchange gifts, as we are but poor religious.

What we exchange at Christmas is our love for one another that manifests itself so beautifully when on Christmas Eve day, after the solemn chanting of the martyrology at prime announcing the birth of Christ on Christmas day, the monks warmly embrace one another wishing each other a truly Blessed and Merry Christmas. Christmas and the following three days are known as recreation days when the silence is lifted in the monastery and the monks spend these days in beautiful liturgy and fraternal charity.

Q. What is Christmas Eve like in the Monastery?

Christmas Eve we like to call the “Day of the bells” as the day begins with merry procession throughout the monastery with rustic instruments. After solemn prime, the monastery’s bells toll out announcing as it were to the whole world that Christ is to be born on Christmas night. The rest of the day is spent in beautiful chanted liturgy and the final preparations of the crèche and Christmas tree. As monks, we enter into the joy of Christmas most intimately by means of the sacred liturgy as we prepare through our hours of contemplation to welcome Christ into our hearts. The beautiful and solemn three Masses of Christmas day, beginning with midnight mass, and continuing with the Mass of dawn and the conventual Mass, invite the monk to enter into Christmas with exuberant joy. Indeed, praised be Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary.

After midnight Mass, the community gathers before the Christmas crib singing carols to our divine Savior.

In a lovely Carmelite tradition, there is a procession throughout our monastery even going into the monk’s cells, to the turn, to the parlors, and all the other monastic rooms where the prior carries Our Lady and the subprior carries St Joseph. The monk kneels to kiss these holy images when they are brought into his cell and placed on his straw mattress.

In this way, the monk’s very hermitage becomes a new Bethlehem where Christ is welcomed in obscurity but with great love and adoration. Our holy mother St Teresa loved this custom and insisted upon its practice,

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As above, there is indeed a delightful time of celebration following midnight Mass where the community gathers before the Christmas crib singing carols to our divine savior. As the sleep comes into the monks’ eyes, the Father Prior concludes this celebration in the middle of the night by intoning the psalm, Laudate Dominum Omnes Gentes (O praise the lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.)

On Christmas day, the monks again share a delightful meal and joyful conversation in the recreation room, rejoicing in the divine infant born for the salvation of men.

Q. Tell me a little about the Mystic Monk Coffee we so love. What’s in store for Christmas?

Throughout the great tradition of monasticism, monks have always done monastic industry to be as self-supporting as possible. Some monks have baked breads, others have brewed beer. As monks who keep vigil in the middle of the night, we know a great deal about a good cup of coffee to keep us awake for our times of prayer.

Moved by other coffee companies that openly supported the pro-abortion, pro-euthanasia, pro-death, atheistic agenda of our modern day, Mystic Monk coffee was born as a pro-life coffee company to support the building of our monastery here in the rocky mountains of Wyoming.

Roasted by our monks during our times of daily work, Mystic Monk coffee is a true monastic industry. For Christmas, we annually hand-craft our own signature Christmas blend that is a delightful holiday roast for those cold winter days of December.

Q. Your web site says ‘The Carmelite monks of Wyoming seek to perpetuate the charism of the Blessed Virgin Mary by living the Marian life as prescribed by the primitive Carmelite Rule and the ancient monastic observance of Carmelite men.’ Can you tell us what that means?

In Carmel there is an ancient saying, “Carmelus totus Marianus est” (‘Carmel is totally Marian’). Carmel has been hailed by the popes as the “preeminent order of Mary.”

We are true Marian souls who seek to “perpetuate the charism” of holy Mary through our union with Christ, hidden here in the enclosure, where our obedience, chastity, and poverty are modeled after the Blessed Virgin and allow us to be transformed into spiritual fathers of countless souls.

Mystic Monk Coffee makes a perfect Christmas Gift! R.

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Chicago’s Hidden Statue

The Infant King Statue Inspires Bright Future

Every city has its secrets. And if you find yourself in Chicago this Christmas, there is an enigma on the South Side you will not want to miss. For there, in the blighted Woodlawn area, hard up by the lofty academic pinnacles of the University of Chicago, is an orphaned architectural masterpiece with a growing group of Catholic devotees.

Saved from the Wrecker’s Ball Slated for demolition in 2003, the former St. Clara/St. Gelasius church is the opus magnum of Chicago architect Henry J. Schlacks. Schlacks applied classical models from Italy, most particularly Rome, to the many magnificent churches he designed in Chicago during the early twentieth century. His church of St. Clara/St. Gelasius stands out as his life’s masterpiece, with its application of concepts from the many triumphal arches of antiquity, including the three arched doorways, and the four imposing statues placed above the pediment.

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Saved by a hard-won landmark status obtained through the efforts of local community supporters, Chicago Cardinal George then entrusted the care and restoration of this 1923 Italian renaissance treasure to the capable hands of the Tuscany-based Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP).

The Church of St. Clara/St. Gelasius was Henry Schlacks’ masterpiece.

Today, it stands in the blighted Woodlawn area, hard up by the lofty academic pinnacles of the University of Chicago, with a growing group of Catholic devotees.

“At the center of the scene is the Holy Infant, surrounded by saints, angels, creatures, humble men, and wise kings,” explains Canon Michael Stein, the current Vice-Rector of the Shrine, whose pastoral assignment until recently was in Libreville, Gabon, Africa. “To have a devotion to the Infant King is nothing more complicated than loving Him, adoring Him, and paying homage due the King of Kings.”

Through the centuries, the devotion that began in Bethlehem in the hearts of Mary and Joseph has been embraced by many saints. St. Therese of Avila is known for carrying a statue of the Holy Infant wherever she went in 15th Century Spain. In fact, several Spanish statues of the Infant King became famous for the miracles attributed to them, most notably the Infant of Prague and the Infant of Cebu in the Philippines.

St. Therese of Avila is known for carrying a statue of the Holy Infant wherever she went in 15th Century Spain. In fact, several Spanish statues of the Infant King became famous for the miracles attributed to them, most notably the Infant of Prague and the Infant of Cebu in the Philippines.

This figure of Christ as the mighty-yet-approachable King is today at the epicenter of a growing network of devotees. Since its inception in 2007 and with the aid of an electronic ex voto provided by the Shrine, devotees the world over have expressed their gratitude to the Infant King for the graces they have received. To bring their petitions, the faithful may send in - by mail or via the Internet - their prayer intentions to be placed at the foot of the Altar. (Donated flowers and candles are also available.)

An Ancient Spanish Statue When you make this journey to believe, you will be most cordially received.

But after you wander, gawking at this gem’s lofty ceilings and impressive space, you must confront the Infant King on the High Altar, a statue of marvels.

Although part of its history is lost, the artistic merits and workmanship of this wooden statue suggest it was carved by baroque sculptors of southern Spain, likely in late seventeenth century. Further, it has been speculated that it may have been commissioned for one of the Carmelite monasteries, among whom devotion to the Child was popular – a fitting echo of the days when this Chicago church was the national Shrine of St. Therese of Liseaux, under the care of the Carmelites.

If you make the journey here, have no fear. You will be most cordially welcomed. But after you wander, gawking at this gem’s lofty ceilings and impressive space, you must confront the Infant King on the High Altar, a statue of marvels.

A Remarkable Collection of Impossible Dreams Today, the Infant King is beautifully restored, arrayed in garments befitting a regal king and priest. Furthermore, this Infant King is drawing to itself a remarkable collection of impossible dreams – a maelstrom of pleas from the faithful, electronic versions of the ancient practice of ex voto offerings. This, in addition to the lofty plans of the Institute to renovate this aging edifice, making it into a center of Catholic restoration. (More on this in future issues of Regina Magazine.)

So, what, exactly, does a devotion to the Infant King have to do with Christianity?

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At the Shrine, the Infant King is honored not only at Christmas time, but also once a month with a novena, starting on the 17th and ending on the 25th, echoing the feast of the Nativity. It culminates in a High Mass, a Procession, and a special Blessing of Children on the final day.

At the Shrine, the Infant King is honored not only at Christmas time, but also once a month with a novena, starting on the 17th and ending on the 25th, echoing the feast of the Nativity. It culminates in a High Mass, a Procession, and a special Blessing of Children on the final day.

This devotion is a spiritual Bethlehem that beckons all to love the Infant King,” says Canon Stein. “The Shrine of Christ the King cordially invites all to come adore Him, not only at Christmas, but every month of the year.”

You may visit and participate in the Infant King devotion at www. infantkingoffering.org. Join this effort to restore the magnificence of an architectural landmark, a gem of history at http://www.historic-landmark. org/

R.

Conversation with a Cloistered Nun Sister Mar y Catharine Tells It Like It Is In this fascinating, candid interview, Sister Mary Catharine, OP, takes REGINA Magazine on an intimate journey through the life of a thriving cloistered community of Dominican nuns.

Q. Where is your Order? How long has it been there?

Our Monastery of our Lady of the Rosary is in Summit, New Jersey, a bedroom community of New York City and a quick 52 minute train ride from the city.

Summit is a very Catholic city with a small town feel. We began our monastery 94 years ago in 1919. Summit was considered a healthy place to live away from New York. It was touted as the “Denver of the East” for its high altitude!

Q. Can you tell us a bit about its founding? About the Dominicans in general — brief history?

The Nuns of the Order of Preachers were founded by St. Dominic and his bishop, Bishop Diego in 1206, ten years before the friars. So, we are their elder sisters!

Actually, St. Dominic never planned to found anything. Stunned by the

In the past eight years we’ve had twelve postulants enter and seven have persevered so far. This is such a blessing. Our young sisters come from several countries and all over the USA. Each sister is so different!

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Albigensian heresy rampant in southern France he began preaching to bring the people back to the truth.

The Albigensian hersey was based on a dualist god: the god of spirit (the “good” god) and the god matter (the “evil” god). Because of their austere way of life the heretics attracted many people. Converting these people back to the Catholic Faith was not easy.

A group of women, used to living the austere life of the heretics, converted to the Faith through the preaching of St. Dominic. A man of great compassion, St. Dominic saw that he now needed to take care of their physical needs.

Many of these women were disowned by their heretic families and had no place to live. So, he gathered them together at a little abandoned church, Notre Dame du Prouilhe and gave them a habit, rule of life, etc. They were desperately poor and St. Dominic would beg for them.

From the very beginning these first moniales were associated with the Order through their prayer and penance. In fact, the first monastery itself was called “the Holy Preaching” which is a powerful testimony to the witness of monastic-cloistered life.

The early nuns were called the Sister Preacheresses although they were cloistered and never went out to preach! The vocation of a Nun of the Order of Preachers is unique because we are fully monastic and contemplative but part of an evangelical and apostolic Order. One has to have a deeply apostolic heart yet find its expression not in the apostolate but in a life of hidden prayer.

Q.Tell us about the famous St. Dominic.

For the first 10 years St. Dominic preached almost entirely alone in southern France. He had companions for a while but then they left. I’m sure he received great comfort in having the monastery as his “home base.”

St. Dominic would preach all day and pray all night. We know from the testimonies of the early friars that he wasn’t a quiet person when he prayed! He would groan and shed copious tears. He would cry out, “O Lord, what will become of sinners!”

His life of prayer and preaching is lived out in the Order by the Friars and Nuns in a complementary way: the friars go out to preach while the nuns carry within the innermost sanctuary of their compassion all sinners, the downtrodden and the afflicted. Like Esther, they go before the King pleading for the salvation of all. Like Moses, they raise their arms in prayer while the battle rages below.

What is commonly not known is that the friars and the nuns are united not just spiritually but juridically through our profession of obedience to the Master of the Order. Together we form the Order of Preachers. We have distinct but complimentary ways of expressing the Order’s mission to “preach for the salvation of souls”.

Q. What is a contemplative’s life like?

Everything else is fitted in around it. So, with liturgical prayer, private prayer and our privileged hours of the “adoring Rosary, which is praying the Rosary before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the monstrance we have about 5 to 6 hours of prayer each day.

Our work is simple, like that of Our Lady at Nazareth. We do the cooking, cleaning, sacristy, laundry, answer the mail, pay the bills, the garden, soap department, etc. Young women are always surprised at how full our days are. You go to bed tired at night!

During recreation times we like to just be together to talk, play games, go for a walk. There is a lot of laughter. Someone once said that our recreations are “high energy!”

We like to just be together to talk, play games, go for a walk. There is a lot of laughter. Someone once said that our recreations are “high energy!”

Q. Many people, if asked, would probably guess that living in a cloister is very limiting. Is this true?

To answer this question fully would take several books and at the same time it can’t really be expressed!

I think the first word that comes to mind is JOY. Not that there aren’t hardships as in any vocation but through it all there is a deep abiding joy because I am totally consecrated to God to love and praise Him. The contemplative vocation is a gift beyond words and one for which I will be thanking God for all eternity!

For Dominican contemplative nuns the Word of God is primary. Our constitutions state that the monastery is to be a place where “the Word of God can dwell abundantly in the monastery.”

The cloister frees us immensely! One of the biggest fears in those discerning a contemplative vocation is that the cloister is seen as squashing freedom but it is just the opposite.

So, first we ponder the word through lectio divina and through theological study, we sing Mass and the entire Divine Office; we listen to God’s Word as it is expressed through our sisters.

The cloister broadens us. It frees us from so many cares and concerns, even something as simple as not minding a stain on my scapular! This freedom isn’t from things so much as for something, really for Someone!

Q. How is your Order governed?

The enclosure is the ‘Garden Enclosed’ of the Song of Songs. Our life is entirely centered on Christ our Spouse alone. Papal enclosure is a great gift of the Church that allows us to live our contemplative life well.

Our manner of government is ordered so that our fraternal life can be “one mind and heart in God”. This means we come together as a chapter to discuss things so we can make a decision that is truly centered in God and not just what I want. This isn’t always easy. It requires that we listen to our sisters and that we be willing to be changed. We have to allow grace to be operative in us. The goal is not majority rule but consensus.

Q. What is your work and daily life like?

Our life is intensely liturgical. Holy Mass and the Office shape our day.

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When I have to leave the enclosure for something necessary I am always so glad to be back. The world is so noisy, both audibly and visually. I really don’t understand how people stay sane!

The cloister frees us immensely! One of the biggest fears in those discerning a contemplative vocation is that the cloister is seen as squashing freedom but it is just the opposite.

Q. Your Order never gave up their habits. Do you think this has affected your stability, as compared to other orders that did?

One of the wonderful things about being such an old Order is that we’ve made every mistake in the book but we trust in God’s mercy and that of our sisters and brothers.

Q. How are your vocations doing?

In the past eight years we’ve had twelve postulants enter and seven have persevered so far. This is such a blessing. Our young sisters come from several countries and all over the USA. Each sister is so different!

I entered long after the upheavals of the 60’s but I have never heard either the nuns or the friars even question whether we should give up the habit.

The habit is our Blessed Mother’s gift to us and we treasure it dearly.

Actually Dominicans consider only the scapular as the habit and is the only part blessed. Well, the cloistered nuns also have their veil blessed during a beautiful part of the Solemn Profession rite called the Blessing and Imposition of the Veil. The veil is blessed and then the prioress solemnly veils the newly professed. It’s very beautiful.

Every nun in the world wears the habit! There might be slight variations of hem height, sleeve width, veil style but we all wear the habit. Get a group of nuns together at a meeting and eventually we’ll be asking each other the important question: “Where do you get your fabric from?” The habit is a non-issue.

I entered long after the upheavals of the 60’s but I have never heard either the nuns or the friars even question whether we should give up the habit.

The habit is our Blessed Mother’s gift to us and we treasure it dearly.

We’ve received more vocations in the past 8 years than in the past 50!

Can you tell us some recent vocation stories?

Our Sr. Mary Magdalene of the Immaculate Conception, O.P. is a native of Kansas and in college was part of the party scene. One night she lay in bed and realized that if she continued along this path she would die. It was a moment of grace when she says she was given the opportunity to choose.

Gradually, she began attending Mass at the Newman Center at college that had a holy and dynamic priest.

One day she told him she thought she had a religious vocation; an idea that terrified her. At his suggestion she visited a Carmelite monastery nearby to experience cloistered life which she didn’t even know existed. At the end of her weekend she said, “These nuns are crazy and I think I might be as crazy as they are!”

At the end of her weekend she said, “These nuns are crazy and I think I might be as crazy as they are!”

Q. So where does the stability come from?

I think our Order’s stability comes first from a tremendous gift of God. We are nearly 800 years old and we have never had a division. We’ve come close but it hasn’t happened. There is only one Order of Preachers. One constitution for the friars: one constitution for the nuns.

Do you realize what a gift of God’s love this is? In his address to the Poor Clare nuns at Assisi, Pope Francis emphasized that the devil wants to destroy a community by causing division. The Order of Preachers from the very beginning has had a great devotion to our Lady and I think it is her protection that has kept us united.

Although St. Dominic died just five years after the Order was founded he left us with such a remarkable charism and form of government that it has shaped the Order these 800 years. Our manner of government is crucial to our stability. And most of all the preaching mission of the Order is perennial for each generation and time. One of the wonderful things about being such an old Order is that we’ve made every mistake in the book but we trust in God’s mercy and that of our sisters and brothers.

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She began a 54 day rosary novena and made the total consecration to Our Lady according to St. Louis de Monfort which was a source of great grace as well. She wrote to many monasteries and became attracted to the Dominican charism. About the same time the Newman Center at college received the total 10 tickets for the state of Kansas for the Papal Mass of Pope Emeritus Benedict at Yankee Stadium, NYC. This was in 2008. Because this was considered the official Mass of the Holy Father’s visit to the United States every diocese in the country received a certain number of tickets. As you can imagine the further west, the fewer tickets!

She wrote to our monastery asking if she could visit and in her less than 24 hour visit and on the 57th Day of her Rosary Novena she knew that this was the place God was calling her. She is now preparing for Solemn Profession next year.

Another of our new sisters is Sr. Mary Cecilia of the Annunciation, O.P. She is an extern sister. The extern sisters have what you might call a vocation within a vocation. Externs are contemplatives but they are not bound by papal enclosure because their vocation is to serve the needs of the monastery in a way that makes it easier for the nuns to live their cloistered vocation. So, externs do the shopping, go to vocation events, represent the community at functions such as funerals or special Masses, fundraisers, etc. In many ways it is a demanding vocation. As much as possible the extern sisters live the same life as the nuns do but still fulfilling their responsibilities.

Q. How did the idea for a soap and candle business come about?

We have a guild of about 70 volunteers who help us by serving as receptionist, drivers, etc. and every year we make a little Christmas gift for them. For some reason, lost in time, it’s the novice mistress’s responsibility to take care of this and someone suggested soap to me. Seven years ago, one Sunday afternoon in August I spent time searching the internet about how to make soap and learned a lot!

Sr. Mary Cecilia is from Saskatchewan, Canada and was a lay missionary with Catholic Christian Outreach in Ottawa. She attended some theology classes taught by Dominicans and learned of our monastery. She began emailing intrigued by what seemed a contradiction: fully contemplative yet belonging to an Order whose mission is to preach the Gospel! I had a hunch Janlyn had a vocation and perhaps even to contemplative life.

At one point I contacted her with the excuse that I needed her new address to send our newsletter and she responded telling me that she would be attending two vocation retreats in New York. I immediately invited her to come for a visit since we are a convenient 52 minute train ride from the city. She accepted because she thought it would be nice to meet me and because between retreats she had an extra day and needed a place to stay!

As she shared her lay missionary work with me, Janlyn tried to explain the value of her part of it which was in administration, working behind the scenes and not on campus working directly with students. I kept agreeing, nodding my head affirmatively.

Suddenly she looked at me, burst into tears and said, “Oh, no! I think I have a contemplative vocation!” She left us the next morning wondering why she was even going to the retreat with the Sisters of Life.

Suddenly she looked at me, burst into tears and said, “Oh, no! I think I have a contemplative vocation!”

A few months she was unexpectedly called into the office of the president of Catholic Christian Outreach who invited her to be part of a missionary group going to China during the summer Olympics. She loved everything about that trip but it also confirmed that her part was to be a hidden life of prayer. She has a special love for the Chinese people because of that trip.

Q. How do you sustain your life, financially?

At about the same time our daily offerings were really down—sometimes receiving no more than $5 a day—and we had just received 4 postulants so our healthcare insurance really went up! We began selling our soap in the gift shop. We were going to have only 5 varieties. That lasted about 6 weeks. We now make hand crème and lip balms using our own formula, room sprays and now candles.

We are a relatively young community. I think our average age is about 47, so that means we have a large healthcare insurance expense. Since, unlike the active sisters, we don’t teach or bring in a paycheck, the small income from our Seignadou Soaps has proved to be very helpful toward meeting those costs.

At about the same time our daily offerings were really down—sometimes receiving no more than $5 a day—and we had just received 4 postulants so our healthcare insurance really went up!

Q. Who is your chief soap-maker?

Right now the novitiate sisters are assigned the work of the soap room.

When a postulant enters she gradually learns all aspects of it. Although there may be sisters who are more “expert” than others, tomorrow another may be given the assignment of learning the craft while the “expert” is assigned to another job in the monastery.

We are mendicant and dependent on Divine Providence. God always provides and we have many wonderful friends and benefactors. Whenever there is a needed repair the Lord provides with unexpected resources and it can be done! God is so good to His spouses!

We also have a small business selling the soaps, creams, lip balms, room sprays, candles, woodcraft we make and books we publish. Mostly this is through the internet and the monastery’s tiny gift shop although we have some wholesale customers as well, mostly Catholic gift shops, retreat centers, etc.

We also have a small business selling the soaps, creams, lip balms, room sprays, candles, woodcraft we make and books we publish.

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It works out well because the soap room is only busy at certain times of the year. The sisters in the novitiate have formation classes and that is the priority.

Q. What kind of people come to pray at your chapel?

People from all walks of life come to our chapel. The doors are open from 6AM, when we pray Lauds, until about 7PM at night and everyone is welcome. All day people come to be with our Lord. Some are regulars who come daily and spend hours. We have several “rosary groups” who use our chapel on certain days. For example, we have mother-daughter group that prays the Rosary every 1stThursday of the month. Other groups schedule a time to visit our chapel.

advice of a Catholic friend. She heard us singing Vespers behind the grille and was so taken by the beauty of the chanting that she contacted us and eventually did a trilogy of books featuring the monastery as seen through her artwork.

Often, at Rosary and Sext at 11:30 PM or Office of Readings and None at 3:00 PM, it’s not unusual to see 10-15 people in the extern chapel. We’re happy they join us for the Office as we believe that this is the most important gift we can give to people—the opportunity to simply BE with Jesus who is here for us 24/7!

Our monastery is situated on a hill in a city called Summit. Like our father, St. Dominic we are meant to radiate the light of Christ. Not in words but in with our life. Eight hundred years later, we are still Sister Preacheresses, still a Holy Preaching!

Our liturgy draws people to our monastery. It’s not unusual for someone to call up to ask the times for when “the nuns do the singing”. Often someone else has told them about the beauty of our chant.

Some people come to our monastery to purchase our Seignadou Soap products and find that we have a chapel open all day long. Amazed, they ask, “You mean I can come and pray here?” We never thought of soap as a means of evangelization!

Q. Why else do they come?

We’re not only a monastery but a shrine, the first shrine in the USA to our Lady of the Rosary. But we’re not a touristy type shrine. The focus is on spending time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, which is exposed every day and three nights a week.

We also have a replica of the Shroud of Turin that dates back to 1624. It was commissioned by the Duchess Maria Magdalena, the wife of Cosmo di Medici. It was laid on the real Shroud and the story goes that the stain on our shroud copy appeared when it was lifted up from the Shroud.

In 1988 a team of scientists did a “dry run” on our shroud copy in preparation for their testing on the real Shroud and they did some tests of the side wound stain on our copy. They said that the DNA was the same on both. Our shroud copy in our chapel is the source of much devotion for many people who visit and that is even more important.

Our replica was laid on the real Shroud and the story goes that the stain on our shroud copy appeared when it was lifted up from the Shroud.

Q. I’ve heard that the beauty of your liturgy is quite a draw.

Our liturgy draws people to our monastery. It’s not unusual for someone to call up to ask the times for when “the nuns do the singing”. Often someone else has told them about the beauty of our chant.

We have a dear friend who is Jewish and an artist. One evening she was worried about some family problems. She decided to visit the chapel on the

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R.

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Today’s Singing Nuns Catholic Chant Tops the Charts for Christmas 2013 Americans are snapping up surprising new Christmas gifts this year, judging by the chart-topping albums of Catholic chant by some new superstars -- traditional Catholic sisters!

The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles have released “Advent in Ephesus” to widespread acclaim...

Q. Can you tell us about the impetus for the creation of your album?

Mother Cecilia: We were hosting a very dear priest friend of ours here at the Priory, a priest who is now dying. He had recently heard our selfproduced CDs. He turned to me and said, ‘You really need to make an Advent CD.’ We had been contemplating the theme for a new CD, and his words sealed it for us. We, too, could perceive a need to restore the lost season of Advent.

Benedictines hold up the Liturgy as the “work of God,” and our primary means of sanctification. Giving attention back to Advent necessarily entails a more spiritual approach to Christmas. Some of the loveliest chants and hymns of the liturgical year appear during the season of Advent.

Sister Joseph Andrew: Music has always been a large part of our community and our daily prayer and life of praise. When we were approached about releasing the music, which was already such a special part of our community, we took it to prayer.

...and the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Dominican Sisters of Mary have produced “Mater Eucharistiae”

On the whole, when it is clear that something is guided by the Holy Spirit, we will, as St. Paul says, “lean forward” and take that act of Faith. We always try to be open to whatever God asks of us. As is often the case when we give our FIAT, like Our Lady, there are many fruits which we could never have imagined which have resulted. But our original decision to allow the documentation of the music of our community was only a desire to share whatever gifts God has given to us generously, as He has been so generous with all of us.

Q. How many sisters participated? Was it fun?

Sister Joseph Andrew: Oh, my, yes, it was so much fun! There were 23 sisters who participated in the choir, and then I played the organ and chimes and Sister Maria Miguel played the trumpet. We had a wonderful producer who helped keep us on track and after 2.5 days we had completed all of the recording for what is now Mater Eucharistiae.

Mother Cecilia: Twenty of the twenty-two Sisters sang. Our dear Sr. Wilhelmina is eighty-nine, and a sister stayed back to take care of her.

Sr. Wilhelmina is our professional in prayer, and we could not have made the recording without her spiritual support!

The practices are always especially enjoyable for the sisters, simply because we are always happy to be in each other’s company. Our voices are truly an extension of our hearts, which we strive to keep united to the Heart of Christ. He is the One who takes our very different voices and melds them together so they sound very much as one.

Both Orders’ albums have raced to the top of the classical Billboard charts. Both are up for Grammy awards.

In this exclusive REGINA Magazine interview, Mother Cecilia, prioress of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles and Sr. Joseph Andrew, OP, Vicaress General, Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist reveal what it takes to capture the top of the charts – and the hearts of many weary Americans.

The recording went very, very smoothly. Recording here in our own chapel also kept us very focused. We were still able to chant the Office the eight prescribed times on each of the three recording days. Rather than give our voices a break, we continued with the praises of God, and He Himself renewed them for the next session!

Q. How many sisters do you currently have? Novices?

Mother Cecilia: We have twenty-two sisters at present. Four of them are novices, with a total of thirteen in formation.

Sister Joseph Andrew: We currently have 127 sisters, including 18 novices and 20 postulants. God is generous and continues to send us many wonderful young women!

Q. What is your Order’s charism?

Sister Joseph Andrew: As Dominicans, our primary apostolate is teaching. As we engage in the new evangelization, we are open

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to new forms of handing down the faith, and in particular, the work of catechesis. We are very much formed first in the Chapel and in the cloister as contemplatives; we are able to bring the Truth.

Other things that young women have repeatedly mentioned are their attraction to the traditional liturgy, how intently we follow the Rule of St. Benedict, and our closeness to one another as a religious family.

So we very much try to meet the culture and engage the culture through primarily education first and foremost- but when and where possible, and as Pope Francis has been witnessing and encouraging, we always keep an open heart towards answering that call that Bl. Pope John II called “The New Evangelization.” For our community, this music and all of the media and outreach which stems from it would very much be in line with that call.

Q. What do you tell them, to help them to discern?

Mother Cecilia: Our charism is prayer and sacrifice for priests, who are the dispensers of Divine Grace. It is at their hands that the Sacrifice of Calvary is presented once more, and beauty is restored to our souls.

They are also encouraged to become more familiar with the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. (The majority of aspirants already are, and feel called to offer themselves back to God through it.) In many ways the beauty of this Mass, at the center of our liturgical spirituality, speaks for itself. The rest of the Divine Office fits into it like spokes in the hub of a wheel.

As Benedictines, we strive to enter the very heart of the Church in her prayer, the liturgy. Offering beauty back to God and hidden there, we ask the Lord to strengthen each priest, the alter Christi, so he may labor courageously and perseveringly for the salvation of souls. There is no better exemplar in this than Our Lady, Queen of Apostles, especially in her hidden life at Ephesus. (This is the city in modern-day Turkey to which St. John brought her to live out her last days after the Ascension of her Son.) We have the privilege of manifesting this charism in a concrete way by making vestments and sacred linens to be used for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Q. Mother Cecilia, I see that you have many young women and much interest in your small Community. This seems to be part of a national trend in America. To what do you attribute all of this interest?

Mother Cecilia: Perhaps this is an illustration of what St. Paul says to the Romans, “Where sin abounded, grace did the more abound.” The Lord seems to be seeking hearts to console Him amidst the continuing decline in virtue within our nation.

There is most certainly a new generation of Catholics steadily growing in our country, who are true seekers of truth, goodness and beauty. They realize the culture of death and sin that is foisted on us from all sides is a dead end, and brings about only unhappiness and a false sense of peace.

We see this hopeful trend, especially in our many seminarians and newly ordained priests, and of course the young women who come to visit us as well. We have had around 100 vocation inquiries this year alone. Truly, this is the work of the Holy Spirit!

Q. Mother Cecilia, when young women come to your Community with a vocation, what feelings do they describe?

Nearly all describe their initial shock the first couple of days. They say it takes some time to stop “thinking,” as they get used to the absence of so much noise that is everywhere in this modern world. They see clearly that there is a definite rhythm to our life, and they begin to discern in the silence whether this rhythm will be the underpinning for the Lord to orchestrate their holiness, and their path to Him.

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Firstly they are told to be faithful in their vocations as sisters and daughters in the context of a family. St. Benedict bases a monastery on the structure of a family. If something is wanting in the natural foundation, the spiritual edifice that we strive to build on its foundation will be impaired.

Time must be set aside for silent prayer alone with God, in order to discern what it is He is asking in the depths of their hearts. Lastly, they must turn with steadfast prayer and fidelity to Our Lady, who always provides maternal strength and love for each vocation. She is our sure guide, as she will always counsel each soul to “do whatever He tells you.”

Q. Sr. Joseph Andrew, you oversaw all of the music and recording on “Mater Eucharistiae.” Your Order seems to garner a great deal of interest from the secular media. To what do you attribute this, in modern America?

Is this part of the general thirst for the spiritual that seems so apparent?

We very much have been able to witness the thirst especially coming from the youth, for authenticity and meaning in life. People want God, they want to have an encounter with Him in their lives.

The arts through beauty are ways that Our Lord lovingly reveals Himself to souls. When we recorded our songs, it was in our chapel with Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist. There is something special in that relationship that shines forth from beauty, love and Truth, which evokes peace in any heart.

We were all made by Him and for Him. Because this is authentically what the Sisters are experiencing as they are singing these songs, it truly has an effect on a world hungry for the contemplative and silence in the midst of all the noise and input.

People have truly responded with great enthusiasm from all faith backgrounds. The fact that the secular media has picked it up and covered our community is something only God could plan. We just try to be as open as we can and always be ready to share our faith when called upon. We have truly enjoyed these experiences engaging the media and so this music has been another opportunity for us to reach out to the culture.

The Lord seems to be seeking hearts to console Him amidst the continuing decline in virtue within our nation. There is most certainly a new generation of Catholics steadily growing in our country, who are true seekers of truth, goodness and beauty.

R.

Perfectly Catholic Gifts

78 | byPage photo Alan Cleaver

“We Do Not Feel Worthy” The Astounding Success of De Montfort Music

Each and every new release of their fledgling music company is up for a Grammy Award.

More often than not the experience for us is almost that of being in the passenger’s seat and marveling at what these religious and the Holy Trinity can do together. To see this success is to be in awe of Our Creator.

As veterans of global entertainment companies SONY and DreamWorks SKG, Kevin and Monica Fitzgibbons have big-time entertainment business experience- and it shows. But that’s not what’s behind the phenomenal success of upstart De Montfort Music, they say.

So, why would two executives who learned from the best minds in the secular music world start a Catholic music company?

Monica Fitzgibbons sat down with REGINA Magazine to tell their amazing story.

Q. Do you see evidence that people are drawn to sacred chant and traditional Orders? If so, why do you think this is?

Yes!! All of our releases on De Montfort have shot to the top of the Classical Charts in Billboard! They are up for Grammys!

The fact that the music came from the Catholic Church originally and from religious, it is interesting to follow that “model,” so to speak. The music has been covered in all kinds of press outlets, from the faith-based to the mass media.

There is no “typical” demographic other than to say the feedback we’ve received overwhelmingly points to the fact that on the most basic level, people are hungry for peace and contemplative moments that are inspired by this art.

It also indicates that beauty reaches hearts in a special way, which provokes a response! This would be the work of something much greater than our company.

More often than not the experience for us is almost that of being in the passenger’s seat and marveling at what these religious and the Holy Trinity can do together.

To see this success is to be in awe of Our Creator.

Q. What made you start De Montfort Music?

One of the things that has been fun and interesting with De Montfort Music is that we created it solely for Religious Orders, for them to release their music and know that we would create a space for them to do so.

Q. What has been your greatest joy?

Discovering much of this music personally, but also bringing to the world original material created by these beautiful Religious Orders.

Some of the most talented people in our world today have given their entire lives and identities over to God’s will in their vocation. To see what He can do with these lives is extremely moving. To then document and record these communities and their art is Heavenly.

We do not feel worthy. It’s a totally new feeling — different from than anything we ever experienced in our previous careers.

Q. Where can people find this music?

The website link for De Montfort Music is http://www.demontfortmusic.com

We started De Montfort Music as a way to try to give to art and culture the True and the Beautiful — and to share its roots from the ancient to the present day. We felt there was art that we wanted represented in today’s “conversation” that we felt passionate had an important role in the arts, as it had throughout the ages.

One of the models that was always interesting in our pasts in mainstream entertainment, so to speak, is that we would always try to not only put out the new art but also to trace the influences of the contemporary artist thereby leading to the discovery of more obscure historical content and we would typically try to connect those dots.

Q. What has been your biggest challenge?

Trying to keep up with these incredible religious and their abilities!! But this has been a good problem to have!

Kevin and Monica Fitzgibbons

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The Perfect Gift for a Priest

by Angie Gadacz Rick Murphey lives just outside of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, tucked away in the woods with a small herd of sheep, a few chickens and other critters. Rick grew up working in his father’s construction business in Carson City, Nevada, learning cabinet-making skills.

Over the years, he came to appreciate the character and beauty of the different grains, blemishes and knots of wood.

The wood for Rick’s altars is selected using quality and beauty as priorities; hemlock is his wood of choice, for its durability. It looks most beautiful stained with an antique-style finish.

Fr Gordon, FSSP and Father Kemna, FSSP look over Rick’s beautiful handcrafted altar.

The front panel on the altar is engraved with the “IHS” and is hand-painted with antique gold, highlighted with black. “Invisible” hinges allow the wings of the altar to fold out, yet still appear to be a long solid piece of wood. The wings are supported by two pullout drawers, lined with felt for storage of a mass kit and the crucifix. The top flips up, and a wood inlaid crucifix mounts atop in full view of the priest as he celebrates the Mass.

Rick has found that priests prefer to have their own altar stone installed, but these altars can also be built without altar stones, in which case the priest would use a “Greek corporal” when he says Mass. This is a piece of cloth with relics sewn into it, usually used in military settings.

Today, Rick is a man with a unique vision. In the long cold winter months from November to May, Rick can be found in in his woodshop, crafting this vision into reality.

“Originally, I set out to create a series of wayside shrines along roads and pastures, to revive the old European custom, “ he says. “These shrines promoted holy adoration and property protection.” However charming this idea, Rick found little interest beyond a few relatives.

“Originally, I set out to create a series of wayside shrines along roads and pastures, to revive the old European custom.” Rick Murphey is a man with a unique vision.

“I got a new idea at dinner one night, from Rev. Dennis Gordon, FSSP, our pastor at St. Joan of Arc Chapel in Coeur d’Alene, “ says Rick. When Father Gordon visited to bless one of Rick’s wayside crucifix shrines, he asked Rick to make a portable altar, designed to house an altar stone he had obtained from the chapel of the Monsignor who had baptized him. Father Gordon wanted to use the Cristeros-era stone and the portable altar on occasions when he had no access to a church to say Mass.

Rick eagerly responded to the challenge of designing and building such an altar.

“First, we built a prototype and over the course of a couple builds, a smaller, lighter model -- based on feedback from the parish priests. This resulted in a more compact 14”x22”x9” size weighing about 35 lbs., with a sturdy handle for ease of carrying. It fits within the maximum dimensions for a carry-on with most airlines.”

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The wood for Rick’s altars is selected using quality and beauty as priorities; hemlock is his wood of choice, for its durability. It looks most beautiful stained with an antique-style finish.

Unfortunately, due to the amount of labor required and the quality of materials, these beautiful altars are expensive. Rick’s altars are fairly complex, consisting of more than 50 pieces of wood to assemble, but he doesn’t have a blueprint for them. Each one is custom-made, and he works off a “general” plan. At the advice of his parish priest, he has added a more simplified model, the “monastic model” without all many coats of polyurethane, for those priests who cannot afford the high gloss original model. This has enabled him to charge significantly less.Unlike most commercial artists, Rick recommends that other carpenters put their skills to work for the Glory of God. He envisions carpenters crafting these for our priests, or for parishes so they can present them to their priests.

“Perhaps with the proper skills, tools, and motivations, more people can step forward,” he says. “There is a need for travel altars, and many priests would love to have them.”

Rick’s altars can be found at his website: stjosephsapprentice.com

R.

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Not Just Christmas Carols William Byrd’s Secret Catholic Masterpieces

by Roseanne T. Sullivan

H

e was a hit-maker -- Queen Elizabeth’s favorite composer, highly regarded at her wealthy and powerful Court. But in reality, William Byrd led a double life. Modern scholars, like Duke Musicology professor Kerry Robin McCarthy, continue to unearth more details of how Byrd somehow kept his reputation, his job, his property, and his life, as both a Court composer who played Elizabeth’s tune and as a heavily-fined recusant Catholic who wrote Mass music for hounded Catholic worshipers -- all at the same time. It may be safe to say that Queen Elizabeth and his other Protestant contemporaries, like many of the rest of us, simply could not resist his genius.

This article was inspired by Suzanne Duque Salvo’s July 2013 article “Upper Class and Underground,” in REGINA Magazine. All quotes in this article are from Professor McCarthy’s 2013 biography, ‘Byrd,’ from The Master Musician series published by Oxford University Press.

As Duke University Music scholar Kerry McCarthy noted in her biography of William Byrd, the Catholic composer was born at “an unusually volatile moment in English history.” 1540 was the year that King Henry VIII “finished dismantling the monasteries and convents.” Monastic libraries were looted and their books used for scrap paper -- some of which made its way into toilets, so despised were the ancient liturgies and music of the Catholic Church.

The Latin Mass was banned altogether; replaced with a stripped-down English service. “What had taken place daily at every pre-Reformation altar, from the humblest parish church to the greatest cathedral, was now a rare and dangerous luxury.”

According to Professor Mc Carthy, “[Byrd] was as well known in his day as any court poet or playwright, and just as close

But a closer look at two of Byrd’s works for Christmastide to the centers of power. [This image], a monumental painting made in 1604, illustrates the point nicely. Although he is reveal a fascinating story. The first is an English carol from a not pictured, Byrd had close ties to many portrayed in this painting. “At a distance of more than four hundred years, the Byrd songbook, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I’s Chancellor. atmosphere of luxury, gravity, and political tension is still palpable in this painting. That was the world in which Byrd’s music was created and performed.”

The second is a set of Propers for a Christmas Mass from a collection that Byrd published later in his life and dedicated Monastic libraries were looted and their books used for scrap paper -to a Baron who secretly held prohibited Catholic Masses in his home. some of which made its way into toilets, so despised were the ancient liturgies and music of the Catholic Church.

William Byrd published a wide variety of music, including religious music not specifically Catholic. Protestants allowed polyphonic settings of Psalm “Lullaby,” a Christmas Carol texts, so most of the religious works he published were motets that set In 1588, Byrd published an elegant songbook, Psalms, Sonnets and Songs.

Psalm texts in Latin or English. He also published religious songs in English.

According to McCarthy, the elegance of this songbook may have been part It is clear, however, that Byrd subtly thumbed his nose at the Protestant majority by his choice of texts. Many were about throwing off oppressors of an attempt to reestablish his reputation at court. “He spent most of the decade under constant suspicion of illegal Catholic activities.“ and pleading for God to rescue an (allegorical) Jerusalem. Some were ‘gallows texts’—Psalm verses that were well-known among Catholics in Fortunately for Byrd’s reputation, the 1588 songbook was a hit, and his England’s underground as the last words of martyred priests.

English Christmas carol from that songbook, “Lullaby,” became an enduring

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favorite. The Earl of Worcester wrote fourteen years later, in 1602, that “we are frolic [joyful] here in court ... Irish tunes are at the time more pleasing, but in winter Lullaby, an old song of Mr. Byrd’s, will be more in request, as I think.”

Perhaps partly due to the danger of discovery that he envisioned for singers of his propers, Byrd kept the individual propers short. “His elegant little offertories and communions—some of them are barely a minute long— could hardly be further removed from the leisurely Latin motets.”

“When he described his settings of the Mass Proper in his 1605 preface, he called them ‘notes as a garland to adorn certain holy and delightful phrases of the Christian rite.’”

In spite of all the attendant risks, Byrd increasingly used his talents to serve the Catholic liturgy while almost the entire English population abandoned the ancient Faith. Perhaps he had his own end in mind.

In the will he signed in 1622, the year before he died, Byrd wrote this prayer, “that I may live and die a true and perfect member” of the “holy Catholic Church, without which I believe there is no salvation for me.”

Psalms, Sonnets and Songs (1588) title page, which reads in part “Songs very rare and newly composed are here published for the recreation of all such as delight in music, by William Byrd, one of the gentlemen of the Queen’s Majesty’s honorable Chapel. With the privilege of the royal majesty.”

In view of his earlier thinly-disguised protests in the texts of his Psalm settings, it is tempting to see a similar vein in his Lullaby, with this line, “O woe and woeful heavy day when wretches have their will!” and a prediction that even though the wicked king sought to kill the King (Jesus), the Son of God would reign, “whom tyrants none can kill.”

In spite of all the attendant risks, Byrd increasingly used his talents to serve the Catholic liturgy while almost the entire English population abandoned the ancient Faith.

Third Mass of Christmas Day, Puer Natus Est In 1607, nineteen years after Lullaby, and about a decade after he published settings for the Ordinary of the Mass (his immortal Masses for Three, Four, and Five Voices still sung today), Byrd published his polyphonic setting of the Latin Propers for the third Mass of Christmas Day. This Mass was published in a collection called Gradualia, along with Christmas motets. Byrd had retired from the Royal Court to live in Essex by then, where he worshiped with, played and created sacred music for a gathering of Catholics in the home of Baron John Petre.

A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY: Portrait commonly (but mistakenly) believed to be of Byrd, according to historian Kerry McCarthy. “There is no evidence that the well-known engraved portrait of Byrd; is anything but a fanciful eighteenth-century artist’s rendition of an Elizabethan gentleman.” This engraving by Gerard van der Guch, after a drawing by Nicola Francesco Haym, c.1729, is in the British Museum.

In his 1622 will, Byrd wrote this prayer, “that I may live and die a true and perfect member” of the “holy Catholic Church, without which I believe there is no salvation for me.”

Kerry R McCarthy Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Collegium Musicum at Duke University.

Byrd wrote in the dedication of his second Gradualia that the music had “proceeded from [John Petre’s] house, most generous to me and mine.”

Byrd had retired from the Royal Court to live in Essex by then, where he worshiped with, played and created sacred music for a gathering of Catholics in the home of Baron John Petre.

Byrd managed to get the necessary printing approvals for the Gradualia from no less a personage than Richard Bancroft, the Anglican Bishop of London. According to McCarthy, the bishop who gave the approval apparently did so because he thought the Propers would contribute to dissension in the ranks of Catholics.

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R.

Christmas is right down the road.

Regina’s Christmas Fair On Facebook, Dec 14th and 15th

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click for more info...

R.

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www.reginamag.com