Summons to the Center

I love reading Thomas Howard, and the upcoming weddings of several beloved church girls from my past (many of whom have grown to become Church Ladies) reminded me of a beautiful piece he wrote about the significance of wedding traditions:

If the charade – this ancient charade, marked similarly in a hundred centuries in a thousand cultures – if it means anything at all, it means that this man and this woman are stepping up into a great mystery, much greater and more splendid than either of them has any notion of at this point; and that they enter together, with heads bowed in obedience to the rubric, to find out just what it is all about and how it happens that freedom and wholeness for both of them lie, oddly enough, along a way already well trodden and well marked with the rules of the road. This woman, all decked in demure white: Is she not for the moment all women? This ceremonial array: Does it not bespeak something that is close to the center of things, but that we cannot, in the hurly-burly of ordinary daily life, with its shopping bags and laundry and diapers, always quite catch? We need this highly conscious, highly structured, ritual enactment of what is always there – that a woman is a noble creature, bearing as she does the image of God, and that at her approach to her lord, the other one who bears the image of God, it is well that the mystery of her being and of her approach be veiled and clothed in white. We need this to bring home to us what is at stake here. Ceremonies matter. Ancient ceremonies matter. (They weren’t dreamed up yesterday over a Coke or pasted together in a sharing session.) They come from the sources of human imagination responding to the biggest mysteries there are...

And all these friends here: What are we doing, all standing about? Are we not signaling to the bride and groom, and to all who wish to know, and to the hosts of heaven, that this is no private transaction? It is preeminently public, that is, human. Here we announce our solidarity one with another, all of us. We wait upon this man and this woman as they step into this most private, most public, act. We stand about them, bringing in our bodies the whole human race to the spectacle. The ceremony needs us too.

Hence these bridesmaids ... Now they come, themselves decked in fine raiment, stepping punctiliously down the long aisle, not capering, not calling to one another or to the bride, not waving greeting to friends in the congregation. Why all this solemnity?... Because. Because. There is something else going on now. This ritual carries us through the clutter and random tumble to the awareness that in the "ordinary" business of boys and girls, or of men and women, we are close to the central mystery of Creation (male and female created he them), and that this is a mystery worth pausing over and marking on such an occasion. Pinches and claps on the back are fine, but you pause when you look into the shrine. You stop frolicking momentarily. These young women now bear a heavy and glorious ceremonial weight upon them. They are not particularly Jane and Meg and Kate now; they are Jane and Meg and Kate appearing as attendant womanhood, assisting at the holy mysteries.

Much more, well worth reading, here.

Tea Cosy of Champions

Therese knitted me an official Mrs. Doyle tea cosy as a Christmas present, featured here in an early St Agnes' day tea with Agnesenplatzchen.

A fellow Church Lady

In doing a little spiritual preparation for my August wedding, I encountered the following quote from St Gianna.

"The months leading up to [St Gianna's] wedding on September 24, 1955, passed very quickly. Everything they needed was purchased for the apartment where the newlyweds would live; the most beautiful and costly material was purchased for the bridal gown, with the remark, 'If a son of mine becomes a priest, I would like to make vestments for him out of my bridal gown.'"
[Holbock, Married Saints and Blesseds]

What a beautiful idea! The symbolism of one's wedding dress being used at the Mass is just lovely.

From Rosarium Virginis Mariae

If it's not too late, rescue any 2007 calendars with religious themes and make the pictures into Rosary books for your children or godchildren. I've done this in the past by simply using a three-ring binder and plastic sheet protectors. Back each picture with a sheet of solid paper to hide the distracting calendar back and divide them according to the Mysteries. Catholic magazines and the internet can also be sources for suitable pictures. It's a great help for little ones, to better focus and understand the prayers.

29. Announcing each mystery, and perhaps even using a suitable icon to portray it, is as it were to open up a scenario on which to focus our attention. The words direct the imagination and the mind towards a particular episode or moment in the life of Christ. In the Church's traditional spirituality, the veneration of icons and the many devotions appealing to the senses, as well as the method of prayer proposed by Saint Ignatius of Loyola in the Spiritual Exercises, make use of visual and imaginative elements (the compositio loci), judged to be of great help in concentrating the mind on the particular mystery. This is a methodology, moreover, which corresponds to the inner logic of the Incarnation: in Jesus, God wanted to take on human features. It is through his bodily reality that we are led into contact with the mystery of his divinity.

(Image Source)

A Church Lady Christmas

This Christmas, a few of your Church Ladies received a very thoughtful gift indeed. Having heard their laments that their local parish was sorely lacking in that staple of popular piety, the votive rack, the Brother of the Church Ladies decided to embark upon a little woodworking project (though perhaps not so little for a twelve year old!), so that at least their domestic churches would not be lacking in this area. Without further ado, I give you, the Home Altar Votive Rack!

(Shown above are three of the four racks made.)

Church Ladies thru the Ages

(image source)

...in the floor between the fourth and fifth pillars, there is memorial of particular interest especially to Dominican Tertiaries. It covers the tomb of Stephania dell'Isola, a Tertiary who, because of her on failing and generous hospitality to any of the Brethren that passed her way, was given the unique title of "Hostess General of the Order of Preachers", as may be read in the inscription. She had lived about 6 miles north of Rome and when she died in 1313 was brought to Santa Sabina for burial. She is depicted wearing the cloak and mantle of the Tertiary and holding the book of the Tertiary Rule in her hands.

[ A Short Guide to Santa Sabina, Fr Hilary J Carpenter OP]

[Mantilla tip: Father Zadok]

Merry Christmas, Father!

I live in a diocese where the local ordinary quite rightly emphasizes rectory living for priests. Theory and practice, diverge however. Although the priests for a given town may live together, the schedule of different parishes may frustrate building a community life. The ordinary challenges of the priesthood, especially for newly ordained priests, can become exacerbated by loneliness.

My own parish is staffed by a religious order who share in a very fulfilling Rule. Instead, I put together this hamper for my spiritual director and all the priests in that rectory. It is my hope these ingredients for simple meals will help them build a communal life. I even shared my top secret recipe for Linguine with Clams!

Church Lady Query: Red Wine Stains

Just the other day, I was sitting in my office when the Church Lady red phone rang. It was a call of distress from a seminarian in need of assistance!** The culprit? That most nefarious of stains: red wine on a white surplice.

Ah, red wine. We all love it dearly, until a simple accident can turn it into our worst enemy. The only time I got on the wrong side of a glass of the stuff was a couple of years ago, and my cloth napkins haven't looked the same since (I won't say which napkins, because you probably won't notice if you aren't looking for it).

I thought, given the wealth of combined Church Lady knowledge here, I should ask all of you for your best red-wine removal tips. I've seen detergent and hydrogen peroxide touted as the best thing out there, but I've never tried it myself. Can anyone vouch for it? Or maybe you have your own never-fail remedy. If you have any things that work (or that definitely don't work), let us know!

*Note: Obviously the above picture would be an example of one of the Church Ladies' renowned dinner parties. You will never see a glass wine glass anywhere near one of the Church Ladies' sacristies!

**I may have used a bit of hyperbole here, as it was actually a post-mortem instant message.

Awake, mankind! For your sake God has become man.

On a good year, when I'm organized enough to think about sending cards far in advance, I'll make my own Advent cards and send them early enough to remind my loved ones of the season. This one, featuring a favorite quote by St. Augustine, was made in several layers (light blue cardstock base, navy deckle cut layer, white layer with a stamped image of virgin and child, vellum layer with the quote on top) and tied with a small piece of ribbon. It says:

You would have suffered eternal death, had he not been born in time. Never would you have been freed from sinful flesh, had he not taken on himself the likeness of sinful flesh. You would have suffered everlasting unhappiness, had it not been for this mercy. You would never have returned to life, had he not shared your death. You would have been lost if he had not hastened to your aid. You would have perished, had he not come.

Let us then joyfully celebrate the coming of our salvation and redemption. Let us celebrate the festive day on which he who is the great and eternal day came from the great and endless day of eternity into our own short day of time.

On the inside it says, "Awake, mankind! For your sake God has become man."

I'm still hoping to make Advent cards for this year, and think I'll use a quote from St. Charles Borromeo from the Office of Readings. (But I have a box of cards from Costco in case that doesn't happen.)

Saint Nicholas Day

As I see it, one of the most hopeful signs for the future of the Church is the number of Church Ladies in the under thirty group! For a brief story on how some college-aged Church Ladies promoted devotion to holy Saint Nicholas on their campus, click here.

Observe the worn toes of this prayerful boy's shoes.
Is it any wonder that St. Nick filled his shoes with gifts?