Our Lady of Walsingham and Sibling Rivalry

By Thorvaldsson (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Centuries ago, in a Nazarene home, the angel Gabriel spoke words that have echoed through the ages: “Ave Maria…Hail Mary.” A thousand years later, in 1061, the Blessed Mother appeared to a devout woman in a small village in England called Walsingham. In the midst of that heyday of Catholicism in England, Our Lady asked the woman to build a replica of the home where the Annunciation had taken place. With the help of three visions of the interior of that home, and divine intervention, the replica was built and “England’s Nazareth” was born.

By Thorvaldsson (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0
 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Walsingham became an intensely popular site of Medieval pilgrimage in England, until it was destroyed by the overzealous efforts of Reformers at the time of King Henry VIII. In spite of modern day suggestions by Anglicans there is value in refraining from “throwing out the baby with the bathwater”, the original reformers, in my opinion, did just that in the “stripping of the altars ” of Reformation England.  I digress, however, as that is not the point of this post.

In the 1900s a restoration of the shrine was inspired by a priest's visit to the neighboring Slipper Chapel.  There are, at present, both Catholic and Anglican shrines of Our Lady of Walsingham in that small village.  Today, the National Shrine of our Lady in Walsingham is filled with the prayers of both Catholic and Anglican Christians and the masses of both are celebrated there. As the glow of votive candles lit by Christians of all stripes bathes the walls of her chapel, one cannot tell where the light of one votive begins and that of another ends.  There is only devotion and love in a unity of warmth and vibrancy.

My lovely Our Lady of Walsingham peg doll
from Sadie's Saints on Etsy

In that spirit, while respecting the importance of doctrinal differences and truths, I express my hope in your prayer for Christian unity.  I don’t care if the impetus for your prayer is the hope that Anglicans will come home to Rome, that Catholics will recognize the ancient sister validity of the Anglican way and Orders, or that both Catholics and Protestants will be inspired to turn east toward Orthodoxy.  I don’t even care if your prayer for Christian unity is based in a modern Evangelical Protestant's hope that all of the aforementioned traditional Christians will get back on their rockers. I just hope that you will pray it. Join me in doing so, won’t you?  After all, a loving Mother longs for her children to love one another and exist in harmony.

 ~~~~~

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us.

Pax Christi,

~Michelle

Compassion and the Last Hurrah of Summer: The Feast of St. Luke

Today, October 18,  is the Feast of St. Luke.

Luke's gospel brought us some precious elements of our Christian heritage. Only Luke recorded the stories of the Prodigal Son, the sinful woman, the good thief, the Annunciation, and Mary's Magnificat. Luke, a physician and possibly a former slave, had a heart for the poor and respect for women. He emphasized the compassion of Jesus and the forgiveness that Jesus offers. His gospel includes a strong message of inclusiveness with regard to lepers, Gentiles, publicans, and the poor.

As we find ourselves immersed in the stresses of a Presidential election season, perhaps we can seek comfort and healing through a focus on St. Luke and his compassionate spirit on this day.

Saint Luke is said to have never married and is the first Christian physician on record. He is the patron saint of physicians, surgeons, unmarried men, and others. Today is an excellent day to pray for physicians and others who care for the sick.

It is said that a period of a few summer-like days always falls around October 18. These days surrounding the Feast of St. Luke have been referred to as "St. Luke's Little Summer." It seems that this year is no exception, at least here in California. If the weather forcast is to be believed, we will be returning to Fall weather with temperatures in the 60s this weekend, after a week of days in the 90s.

May you be blessed with compassion for, and from, others on Saint Luke's feast day,
Pax Christi,
~Michelle

~~~~~

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”~Luke 7: 44-48

Michaelmas in Medieval Times- (Better use up those Blackberries)

By unknown master (book scan) [Public domain
or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Today is Michaelmas, the day that the traditional church in the West celebrates the Archangel Michael, and all angels.

Michaelmas was a significant day in Medieval times, for both spiritual and temporal reasons.  It marked the end of the harvest as well as the end of activities that could only be conducted in Summer, such as fishing and fruit harvesting. It was a time to process the harvest, fill barns with food, and salt and cure meats.  For those who could afford it, the traditional feast was a goose.

Of course, there was no supermarket stocked with goods from around the world in those days.  The quality of the harvest and its storage determined the complexion of life for the long, bleak winter months ahead. Most villages had a harvest festival on this day. It was also a "quarter day", marking the beginning of one of the four quarters of the year.  As such, it was a day on which rents were collected.  The day following the festival and financial reckoning, laborers could hire themselves out at a "mop fair" for service in the next year's farming season.

In those days, an interesting Michaelmas tradition existed in Europe.  This was considered to be the very night that St. Michael, Archangel, cast Satan down to Earth from Heaven.  It seems that Medieval Christians had it on good authority that Lucifer landed in a blackberry bush. Naturally, from this evening onward, blackberries were to be neither harvested nor eaten until the next season.  Some would express their disdain for the enemy of God by urinating or spitting upon blackberry bushes until the following year when the cycle began again.

By anonymous (Queen Mary Master) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

For us, this time of the year is also marks a turning of the seasons.  We look forward, with excitement laced trepidation, to the festivals of All Saints, All Souls, and Christmas.  Trepidation, because even with our modern conveniences, we feel in our genes the coming of darkness as days shorten and the night sky deepens.  Excitement, because we know that at the end of our season of tenebrosity, we will kneel with peaceful joy, at the cradle of a King.

Pax Christi Dear Ones,
The long dark night approaches,
~Michelle

My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight... ~ Daniel 6:22

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Michaelmas: Guys With Swords

By WOlfgang Sauber (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)
 or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Elyse has an affinity for guys with swords.

Today is the Feast Day of my precious daughter's patron: Saint Michael, Archangel. (She's rather fond of St. George, too...but today is Michael's day.)  She has been informed that warrior saints are generally embraced by little boys, but that has never swayed her, even when she was knee high to a grasshopper.  She knew her "guys" when she saw them.

St. Michael is widely revered and is recognized by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans and some other Protestant groups, Judaism, and in Islam.  His name means "Who is like God?"and was a key question in the battle in Heaven against Satan and his followers.  In our opulent Western comfort, I suppose that it is a question that we might ask ourselves today.  It is easy to begin to think that we have 'it all under control' , or even that we are pretty nifty....but believing that we are pretty nifty and have it all under control is a first class ticket to forgetting, or even openly opposing, the One who really is, and does.

Who is like the Lord our God,

the One who sits enthroned on high,

Who stoops down to look

on the Heavens and the Earth?

Psalm 113: 5-6

Happy Feast Day of Saint Michael and All Angels.
May you always seek aid, and remain on the side of righteousness, in your battles against the forces of darkness.

Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. ~ Revelation 12:7-9

Pax Christi Dear Ones,
~Michelle

More on Michaelmas here:

MIchaelmas in Medieval Times

Who Has Not Doubted?: On the Feastday of St. Thomas

Caravaggio, The Incredulity of St. Thomas, PD-US, PD-ART

Today is my patronal feastday.  It is the Feastday of Saint Thomas, patron saint of the blind, craftsman, theologians, and...doubters.


Thomas is my patron saint because I think too much.


It was Thomas who, at the Lord's supper, was tormented by uncertainty.  When Jesus told them, "I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, ...and whither I go ye know, and the way ye know",  Thomas had to express his inner hesitation.  He said to Jesus, "Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?".  It was Jesus' empathy for Thomas state of tortured uncertainty that graced us with the gift of a great teaching: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me". (John 14, KJV)


Thomas was not with the other disciples when Jesus appeared to them after the resurrection, as recorded in John 20.  When they later told Thomas about the appearance, Thomas doubted.  True to his nature, he stated that unless he could place his fingers in the crucifixion wounds of our Lord, he would not believe.

Peter Paul Rubens, Martyrdom of St. Thomas PD-US, PD-ART

A week later, Jesus again appeared to them, and invited Thomas to do just that.  Thomas placed his fingers in the nail marks in the body of Our Lord, and in the wound in his side, stating, "My Lord and my God".

This is no small statement.  It is the word of well weighed faith.

I like Thomas because, it seems to me, he tells it like it is.  He doesn’t pretend knowledge where he lacks it, and he doesn’t pretend belief when it does not yet exist.  Yet, he is resigned to loyalty to the well considered commitments he has made, once he has made them.  

Earlier in Jesus' ministry, after Lazarus has died, the disciples are reticent to return to Judea, where the Jews are eager to do Jesus harm.  Thomas states bravely, "Let us go that we may die with him".  He forms his allegiances carefully, but then he stands firmly by them.

Thomas strikes me as an "it is what it is" sort of person.  He just wants to make sure that "it is" first.  

Which of us has not doubted?  Pope Gregory was right, "Thomas' doubt healed the wounds of all our doubts".

As for the end of the story...

Tradition tells us that Thomas was perhaps the only apostle to take the gospel outside of the Roman Empire.  He is also credited with crossing the largest area, having taken the gospel to farflung locations including Parthia and India.  He is believed to have sailed to India in 52 A.D. to share the gospel with the Jewish diaspora in India at that time.

Perhaps a modification of the statement of Forrest Gump's mother: "Stupid is as stupid does", is appropriate here.  Perhaps "belief is as belief does", because, in the end, despite his reputation as a "doubter", the apostle Thomas died, steadfastly, for his faith.

Pax Christi, Dear Ones,

May All Your Doubts be Healed in Christ,

~Michelle

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The Feast of the Annunciation: The Incomparable Example of the Blessed Mother

By Yoav Dothan (Own work (self taken))
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Christmas is nine months away.  That means that, on this, the Feast of the Annunciation (transferred), while we are focused on the events leading up to the crucifixion, Mary is receiving some news. Unexpected news. Overwhelming news. And replying, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word."

Remarkable isn't it?

Mary displayed, for us, an example of absolute obedience...and trust.

Interestingly, it brings to my mind the fact that our children are, ultimately, not our own.  It is our job to raise them up to the Lord, and, to enjoy the unfolding of what he would have them be.  He may have ideas quite different from our own.

He certainly had remarkable plans for the babe that Mary welcomed that day.

God Bless you, and your children, this day.
~Michelle

The Swallows Return to Capistrano: The Feastday of St. Joseph

Happy Feastday of St. Joseph!

Dori, via wikimedia commons,Click for license

Tradition has it that the cliff swallows return today, from their winter home in South America, to the Mission of San Juan Capistrano, in San Juan Capistrano, California.

They return to nest for the Spring.  Swallows take the choice of a nesting site seriously.  They require the presence of a cliff, the availability of mud for nestmaking, and a source of food.

The "cliff" need not be a natural one, though. The walls of a mission will do just fine.

In celebration of their return, the mission bells are rung,the faithful visit, and a parade is held. The mission is one of the oldest buildings in California, and was founded on the Feast of All Saints, November 1, 1776, by the Franciscan priest, Blessed Junipero Serra.

By DDauri Daniel D'Auria (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)],
 via Wikimedia Commons

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St. Joseph with the Infant Jesus, Guido Reni, PD-OLD

Apparently the swallows know a good man when they see one.

Today is the Feastday of St. Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary, and earthly father of Jesus Christ.

Joseph did a brave thing when he took Mary, who was with child, as his wife.  It was not a practice that was culturally acceptable at the time.  But, he stood fast, obeyed, and trusted God.

He went on to be the protector, leader, and provider for the most important family that the world has ever seen.

We live in an era when the value of fatherhood, and of men in general, is minimized, but the positive impact of a godly father upon his family is irrefutable.

Today, we are blessed with the opportunity, to, along with the swallows, honor the greatest earthly father, and the fathers that bless our own homes.

The Ringing of the Bells to Welcome the Swallows Home to Mission San Juan Capistrano:

(You can scroll down to the music player in the bottom right hand corner of the page, and use the pause button to silence the music, before watching the video.)

Pax Christi, friends!

~Michelle

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Laetare Sunday: When Mothering is Honored and Real Men Wear Pink

The church is tickled pink twice per year. We lit the pink candle on the third Sunday of Advent, (Gaudete Sunday), and with it, experienced a lightening in an otherwise penitential season.  The fourth Sunday of Lent is the cousin of the third Sunday of Advent.  It is a pause on the road to the foot of the cross, a time to remember that in the Church we have joy and peace.

Can you see it?  Easter is on the horizon; we are halfway there.

This day is called Laetere Sunday, after the opening words of the Latin mass for this day, "Laetere, Jerusalem"....
"Rejoice, oh Jerusalem, and come together all ye that love her: Rejoice with joy, you that have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation.  


Laetere Sunday is also known as Mothering Sunday because of the epistle reading for the day, which teaches that not only the Jews, but all who come to Christ, are children of God and inheritors of the promise.

There was a custom of visiting the cathedral ("mother church") of one's diocese on this day.  Hence all members of an extended family were brought together in worship.  In England, this day came to be a day for honoring mothers.  In some places, this Sunday when families were brought together from far and wide was, also, the only day in Lent when marriages were solemnized.

Fir0002/Flagstaffotos Click for License

Laetere Sunday, like Gaudete Sunday in Advent, is a time to pause, at the halfway point on the path to Easter, and experience joy at the coming hope.  The church expresses her joy in the form of rose colored vestments, altar hangings, and/or pink flowers upon the altar.

We are halfway there!
Easter approaches, friends, and joy begins to well in our hearts at the anticipation of it!

While I am at it, I should note that my own mother is a selfless dear person who has blessed the lives of her children and grandchild, and whom we all love beyond words.

Pax Christi!
~Michelle

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Saints, Cleavage, and Green Beer, (Warning: This is a Rant)

St. Patrick stained glass window
 from the Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland, CA
Thomas Gun, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license

I was treated to a radio commercial today which promoted a "St. Patrick's day celebration".  This lovely gem encouraged women to come "dressed sexy", men to come ready to dance with "hot chicks", and everyone to "get drunk off (their) *bleep* on green beer".  

I've been somewhat intolerant lately.

But this takes the cake.

I understand that we live in a diverse culture.  I appreciate that we, as Westerners, generally live in a free society, (unless you wish to wear a cross, in the workplace, in England).  I do not wish to impose my belief system or practices on other people.

But good gracious, can't secularists get their own holidays to celebrate debauchery and corruption upon?  Must they continually use religious holidays to do so?  Do we even remember that holidays are, or at least were, "holy days"?

Andreas F. Borchert
 CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0
 via Wikimedia Commons

Bishop Patrick was a holy and pious man who had a tremendous impact on the unfolding of Christian history and society...and history and society in general...in the British isles.  He was a powerful witness for Christ who converted thousands to truth.  God used him, in a mighty way, to bless the lives of countless individuals in his own day, and for centuries to come.  He was a gentle and kind man who humbly put total trust in God.  He is a a dazzling example for Christians who seek to walk in the footsteps of our Lord and who humbly seek to touch the lives of others with love and healing.

He has not the least connection to cleavage, drunkenness, and sexual promiscuity.  Honestly, can we keep some of our Christian history alive?  Does anyone love virtue anymore?

And that is Michelle's rant for today.

~~~~~~~~~~

"I am Patrick, a sinner, most uncultivated and least of all the faithful and despised in the eyes of many." 

"If I have any worth, it is to live my life for God so as to teach these peoples; even though some of them still look down on me."

"That which I have set out in Latin is not my words but the words of God and of apostles and prophets, who of course have never lied.  He who believes shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be damned.  God has spoken.

  ~St. Patrick 

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St. Patrick: His Confession and Other Works

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What of the Saints: When Protestantism and Catholicism Collide

In spite of my Missouri Synod Lutheran parochial school upbringing, I used to cross myself in private when I was a little girl.  Lutherans didn’t do that.  Not Missouri Synod Lutherans anyway.  It was too superstitious, too…Catholic. 

By Ulrich Sekat (Waldkircher Orgelbau Jäger & Brommer)
[CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons

But even as a young child I knew, somehow instinctively, that I needed to use my senses in meeting God. 

Protestants, generally speaking, are fond of words.  They are objective, literal; they have an intellectual faith.  This is not to say that their faith does not flourish in a relationship with Jesus.  It is only to say that their faith is based in words, the Word, verbal-linguistic understandings written on their hearts in relationship.

This is mete and right, considering the historical roots of the Reformation.  It is the legitimate product of an authentic response to the movement's perception of Catholicism, warts and all,  in the Sixteenth Century.  It is an outgrowth of the movement's subsequent coming of age and its shaping by eighteenth and nineteenth century Protestant experience.

Catholicism, while it watched and acknowledged Protestant fist shaking, breaking away, and coming of age, offered some legitimate response with the Catholic Counter-Reformation, yet held fast to its sensory experience of God.  Catholics, and the Orthodox for that matter, feel God in their core, smell him in incense, hear him in bells, chant, and murmurs…taste him on their tongue.  And contrary to general Protestant understanding, this sensory perception of God manifests in relationship with him and his Son.

By Pascal Reusch  [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses
/by-sa/3.0)
or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)],
 via Wikimedia Commons

I suppose that, as one who has been molded by both understandings, and has shaped a response to him in both forums, I have landed in the natural place, somewhere in the middle…the Via Media, as it has been called…weaned of both parents to Anglicanism.

Having walked this path to my current place, my experience of the Saints has been a colliding of traditions.  I have, at once, been sucked into them and leery of them.  Fascinated, drawn, and cautioned.  A fundamentalist childhood training does not fall easily away.  I know superstition when I see it…both in those who approach the Saints with it, and in those who caution against approaching the Saints at all.  But the Saints never stop haunting my walk.

I am steeped enough in an Earthly family with a rich heritage and lore, to know that my Heavenly family is part of me, written on my spiritual DNA.  Not to be ignored.

It is from this place that I prepare to approach the reading of The Lure of Saints: A Protestant Experience of Catholic Tradition again…these many years later.  It fed me then, at a different time in my Christian life, and I trust that it will feed me again, where now I stand.

Perhaps we shall meet again on this topic, you and I, and I will fill you in on the unfolding of the experience.

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Today is Candlemas...and Why It Matters

Photo: Lawrence OP, click for license

Today, Feb. 2,  is the fortieth day after Christmas.  Upon the fortieth day following birth, devout practicing Jews, like Mary and Joseph, presented themselves in the temple for the ritual purification of the new mother, and to redeem the first born son, who by rights, belonged to God. While Epiphany-tide may last a bit longer depending on the date of Easter, the Christmas season ends, completely, today.

Upon Jesus' presentation in the temple, he was encountered by two rather significant people, the aged and devout Simeon, and the very aged prophetess Ana.  They each had been waiting a long time for this.  They knew his worth, and, the world changing event which had occurred with his coming.

Simeon's song upon experiencing this meeting is well known, and is part of the evening prayers of many liturgical Christians:

"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, 

according to thy word;

for mine eyes have seen thy salvation

which thou hast prepared before the face of all people,

to be a light to lighten the Gentiles,

and to be the glory of thy people, Israel."

~Luke 2: 29-32

Imagine their joy, upon meeting their Lord.  It could be our song, couldn't it?  Each of us. Redeemed and overcome with peace.

PD {1923}

As the days lengthen, and the light returns, we have this day to recognize the true light among us, and rejoice.  Meditate upon his priceless worth today, and welcome him, will you?

~~~~~~~~~

Soon, Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) will be upon us...a last hurrah of Epiphany-tide.  The next day will be Ash Wednesday, our entry into the solemnity, introspection, re commitment, and self-renewal of Lent...which is observed in preparation for the Holiest Feast of all, the Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord.  We have much to anticipate.

Pax Christi, Friends,

~Michelle

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Wanted!...and the Winner of the January Giveaway

Photo: Dave Bleasdale , click for license

Wanted:

Notorious man who:

* Has locked up many Christians for their faith

* Has voted for Christians to be executed

* Has punished Christians in an attempt to force them to deny their faith

* Has pursued Christians outside the borders of his own land into foreign cities

Wanted....by Christ...for Christ...to serve and testify of him.

Today, January 25, is the Feastday of the Conversion of St. Paul.

It took quite an intervention, on the part of God, to break into Saul's former thinking and turn him around.  It took a very bright light, and the very voice of Jesus, to shake him up, and get him listening.  And what did Jesus say?  Basically, 'I am Jesus Christ.  Quit fighting me mister. Get up and get going; I've got work for you to do'.

The Coversion of St. Paul, Caragvaggio, 1601

Saul became Paul...and went on to be an amazing testifier of Christ.

God can use anyone, even you and me.  He can completely turn someone around.  He wants to bestow his grace upon us.  Let's not force him to strike us down on the freeway to get our attention.  He has work for us to do, too.

Click here for today's readings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is also the day scheduled for the announcement of the winner of the January giveaway here at Liturgical Time.

The winner of the veil from the Liturgical Time Veil Shop, randomly selected via random.org is:

Mrs. White @ The Legacy of Home!

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:44Powered by RANDOM.ORG

I will be contacting you via email, shortly to get your mailing address, and to find out whether you would like the veil in black, white, or ivory.

Congratulations!

The February giveaway will be announced soon!

Use the button on the left sidebar to become a follower, or subscribe via email below, to be sure that you do not miss the announcement of the February giveaway.

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