60th Anniversary

God bless His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, on the 60th
anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. And how fitting that it should be on the
Solemnity of Sts Peter (the first Pope) and Paul!

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI is Tweeting!

Click Here
Apparently, His Holiness has tweeted before,
but this is the first time he has tweeted using iPad.

Summer Camp and "All-Of-A-Kind Family"

Some of my best memories of summer camp, in 1967, are of unscheduled events. This, perhaps, is my best memory:
There was a row of three senior girls' bunks. A girl from one of the bunks had a little electric teapot. Every afternoon, at rest period, we would relax on the lawn in front of the bunks, sipping tea (those of us who had parental permission to drink coffee were, by implication, allowed to drink tea) and reading aloud by turns.
One book, which turned out to be everyone's favorite, was Sydney Taylor's "All-Of-A-Kind Family".
Oh, how I empathized with Sarah when her library book was lost! How I envied the girls for the game their Mama made up (hunting for buttons) to make dusting fun. (But I should admit that I never had to dust when I was a kid.)
I could almost taste the broken crackers and the candy which Charlotte and Gertie secretly
ate in bed one night.
Of course, I also loved the Jewish themes in the book, the Sabbath and the holidays.
I'm sure that I wasn't the only girl who went to her local library after coming home from
camp, and took out "More All-Of-A-Kind Family" and "All-Of-A-Kind Family Uptown".

New Items

I added some new items to my collection today, including the
very first commercial jingle on radio. I also put a link to my collection on this blog.

Special EWTN Programming

Don't miss the
SOLEMNITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI BENEDICTION AND PROCESSION FROM HANCEVILLE (LIVE)
on EWTN, 6:00PM Eastern Time.
I'm definitely going to watch!

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Join me and other Catholic bloggers at Sunday Snippets.
Thanks once again to RAnn for hosting!


Semper Gaudete!: Special EWTN Programming

Semper Gaudete!: I Love Sunday: 1: Saturday Evening

Semper Gaudete!: I Love Sunday: 2: Prayer Schedule

Semper Gaudete!: I Love Sunday: 3: Reading

Semper Gaudete!: I Love Sunday: 4: Secular Amusements

Semper Gaudete!: Books Read in the Past Week

I Love Sunday: 4: Secular Amusements

I spend less time on secular amusements on Sunday (because I spend more time praying), but I do not go without them altogether. However, on Sunday, my secular amusements are more likely to be passive than active. An old comedy on TV, for instance.
Even the games I play regularly are played differently on Sunday. For example, before Sunday,
I plant crops on FarmVille which won't be ready to harvest until Monday, at the earliest. That way, I have very little to do on FarmVille on Sunday, except tend to my beehive. I do have some short-term crops on my English farm, but that farm is on pause while I'm on my home farm.
During the week, I play SolSuite on the computer (off-line), but on Sunday, it's MahJong Suite.
To me, just playing a different game on Sunday is another enhancement.

I Love Sunday: 3: Reading

On Sundays, I read only Catholic books from Catholic publishers.
This is not a restriction, but rather an enhancement of my Sunday observance. The books can be fiction or non-fiction, physical books or books read online. However, they are not to be too scholarly, and a book that I read on Sunday must be one that I would enjoy reading on Monday.
After all, the idea is to enhance my Sunday observance, not to make it dull.
Of course, there are certain books I read every day, Sundays included. For example: The Bible, "My Imitation of Christ", and Karen Edmisten's lovely book, "Through The Year With Mary: 365 Reflections".
I have found that I look forward to that weekly change of pace in my reading. I have also found that I enjoy the weekday books all the more for having put them aside for 24 hours.

Books Read in the Past Week

"How To Converse Continually and
Familiarly With God"
by St. Alphonsus Liguori
[spirituality, Catholic]


"Pollyanna's Jewels"
"Pollyanna's Debt of Honor"
by Harriet Lummis Smith
(fiction)


"All-Of-A-Kind Family"
"All-Of-A-Kind Family Downtown"
"More All-Of-A-Kind Family"
by Sydney Taylor
(children's fiction)

I Love Sunday: 2: Prayer Schedule

My Sunday prayer schedule is very different from my weekday prayer schedule; I give more time to prayer on Sunday.
During the week, I pray just ONE of the Daytime Hours; on Sunday I pray all three.
On weekdays, I pray one set of Rosary meditations, the ones recommended for that day. On
Sunday, I pray all four sets; the Joyful Mysteries in the early morning, the Luminous in the mid-morning or early afternoon, the Sorrowful in the late afternoon, and the Glorious in the evening.
During the week, I pray the Chaplet of Mercy on my own; on Sundays, it's the Chaplet of Mercy in Song on EWTN.
I always watch Benediction and Devotions at 6:00 PM on EWTN. And then comes Evening Prayer II, after which I say, "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who makes a difference between the Sabbath and the weekdays, between light (turning off the candle) and darkness."
And then I change into my weekday clothes, remove the tablecloths, and put the books back.

I Love Sunday: 1: Saturday Evening

Sunday is always special, a day where we give more time to God, Who has given all time to us. So how do I celebrate Sunday? (Remember, I am not often able to get to Mass.)
First of all, I prepare on Saturday by making my house especially clean, and doing a laundry. The books that are on the two end-tables next to the TV are removed, and freshly-laundered tablecloths
are placed there instead. Oh, how I love the smell of freshly-laundered tablecloths!
My Sunday observance begins on Saturday evening, right before Evening Prayer 1. I change into a skirt and a nice top, put on my prayer veil (white for Sunday), light a candle (electric, for safety reasons) and pray, "Blessed are You, Lord Our God, King of the universe, Who has commanded us to keep holy the Sabbath day." (This is adapted from the Jewish way of ushering in the Sabbath; however, Jewish Sabbath candles burn down in a few hours; my candle stays lit.)
Then comes Evening Prayer.
I usually watch Mother Angelica Live Classics on EWTN at 7:00 PM, followed by EWTN Cinema at 8:00.
While watching the movie, I eat a leisurely supper in front of the TV.
I even dress for bed differently; six nights a week I wear pajamas, but on Saturday night,
I put on a nightgown instead.
Little things make such a difference.

Crafting and Collecting

This is a place to share your crafting and collecting hobbies.
To take part, go to your blog and make a post called Crafting and Collecting, in which you
highlight any post or posts you wish to share, including posts about books relating to your hobby.
Pictures are also very welcome.
Next, come back here and enter the new post's
URL into Mr. Linky. And finally, check out what others have posted here.
I'll get the ball rolling with a post from my own online collection blog.

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Join me and other Catholic bloggers at
Sunday Snippets. Thanks once again to RAnn for hosting!


Semper Gaudete!: My Friend Tony

Semper Gaudete!: Pollyanna's Wedding Day

Semper Gaudete!: Absolutely Disgusting!

Semper Gaudete!: Books Read in the Past Week

Semper Gaudete!: Crafting and Collecting

Books Read in the Past Week

"Pollyanna At Six Star Ranch"
by Virginia May Moffitt
(fiction)
[fill-in; takes place between chapters 15 and 16 of "Pollyanna Grows Up")
"Pollyanna Grows Up"
by Eleanor H. Porter
[chapter 16 to conclusion]
(fiction)
"Pollyanna Of The Orange Blossoms"
by Harriet Lummis Smith
(fiction)


"The Great American Broadcast:
A Celebration of Radio's Golden Age"
by Leonard Maltin
(nonfiction)

Absolutely Disgusting!

Click HERE, but not if you've just eaten, or are just about to eat.
I have to question the motives and the sanity of whoever came up with that survey. I mean, these
are little kids we are talking about, although when I was 12, I definitely did not think of myself as a little kid.
I wonder how I would have reacted to such a survey when I was in the 7th grade... or even in the 12th grade! I hope and pray that I would have refused to answer the questions! And we need to pray for the children who were subjected to this survey!
Did I give this post the title "Absolutely Disgusting!"??? Make that "Way Beyond Disgusting!!!!"

Pollyanna's Wedding Day

I've just started Pollyanna of the Orange Blossoms, by Harriet Lummis Smith. I had to smile when I came to the first sentence in the second chapter:
"On the morning of June fifteenth, Beldingsville was wakened by the monotonous drip of rain."
Pollyanna's wedding day was June 15th, and today is also June 15th.
What a lovely coincidence!

My Friend Tony

And yep, I mean St. Anthony of Padua, whose Feast is today!

How many times have people prayed some version of the prayer:

"Tony, Tony, come around.

Something's lost and must be found"?

I know St. Anthony is ALWAYS helping me find stuff.

Years ago, when I had just recently converted to Catholicism, I called

Mom at work (It was her usual break time.)

Mom said, "I can't talk right now. We're missing an important file and

we've looked all over for it."

"Okay," I said, "call me back when it turns up."

Well, within five minutes she called me. The file had been found.

"Aren't you going to thank me?" I asked.

"Thank you? What for? You're not even here."

"I know," I said, "but who do you think prayed to St. Anthony?"

More recently, I was chatting with a couple of my online friends, and

one of them was going slightly nuts because she had misplaced something, and couldn't find it anywhere. I said a prayer to St. Anthony, and then typed,

"Try looking again."

She didn't want to, but I persuaded her. And then she typed, in caps

"I FOUND IT!!!!!!"

I wasn't a bit surprised!

Does St. Anthony ALWAYS get lost articles back for me? Well, almost! One morning I couldn't find my Rosary. I looked. I prayed. To my surprise, I still did

not find it. But later that morning, I received a brand-new, beautiful Rosary from a Catholic organization. I'm almost SURE I heard St. Anthony chuckling.

BTW, the lost Rosary did turn up eventually.

Of course, there's much more to St. Anthony than just running the Lost and Found! :)

St. Anthony of Padua

This post was taken from one of my old blogs.

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Join me and other Catholic bloggers at Sunday Snippets. Thanks once again to RAnn for hosting!


Semper Gaudete!: Golden Ages

Semper Gaudete!: Outgrow????

Semper Gaudete!: Old Meets New: Commercial

Semper Gaudete!: Well Meaning, But Mistaken

Semper Gaudete!: Books Read in the Past Week

Books Read in the Past Week

"Pollyanna"
"Six Star Ranch"
"Pollyanna Grows Up"
by Eleanor H. Porter
(fiction)
[chapters 1-15 only; explanation to follow.]
(fiction)
Plus the books in my "Currently Reading" list!

Well Meaning, But Mistaken

Abortion and euthanasia are evil; there is no denying that. However, I do not believe that everyone who supports these evils is himself or herself evil.
(Some are, of course, for example those who support and promote abortion on the basis of race.)
And yet, there are those who believe in euthanasia as a way of ending pain and suffering. Perhaps, if I did not believe in God, in the Afterlife, in the value of suffering, I would feel the same way.
There are people who feel that a child who would be born severely handicapped should be aborted,
because the quality, the value of that child's life would be so poor. This is misguided compassion; we cannot really judge the quality or the value of anyone's life. The child has a soul; that is all the quality that is needed.
As for the value: Perhaps, in caring for that severely handicapped child, his or her family
will gain a deeper sense of compassion.
Bottom line: Those who support abortion and euthanasia, no matter what their motives, are
still supporting evil.

Old Meets New: Commercial

This is from 1948.

Outgrow????

Someone once asked me, "When are you going to outgrow those baby books?" (meaning children's books in general).
I felt that that was rather a rude question, but I responded as politely as I could:
"You outgrow your clothes. You... hopefully... outgrow bad habits. You don't outgrow good books.

Golden Ages

People talk about The Golden Age of Vaudeville, the Golden Age of Comics, the Golden Age of Movies, the Golden Age of Radio, the Golden Age of Television, The Golden Age of Advertising, and so on. It seems that every medium has its own "golden age," its "good old days", a time remembered with fondness, and perhaps, a little regret, a bit of longing for the past. Yes, many things from the various "Golden Ages" are still available on TV, on the Internet, in stores, yet we often feel a nostalgia for when these things were NEW; for when, for instance, those classic TV or radio shows were broadcast for the first time; when those movies first opened; when those commercials, print ads, or advertising cards were seen for the first time.
(It was my interest in these various Golden Ages that led to my Collection.)
And what about now? Are there blog posts being written that will someday be considered classics?
Is this, perhaps, The Golden Age Of Blogging?
I am terribly tempted to say, "Of COURSE it is. After all, I'm blogging now!

Hobby Talk Tuesday

Welcome to Hobby Talk Tuesday! If you have a crafting or collecting hobby,  
 here is the place to share posts about it  Pictures are also very welcome, as are posts about hobby-related books.
To take part, go to your blog and make a post called Hobby Talk Tuesday, in which you
highlight any post or posts you wish to share.  The post should lead back here. Next, come back here and add your link.
 And finally, check out what others have posted here.

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Join me and other Catholic bloggers at Sunday Snippets. Thanks once again to RAnn for hosting!

Semper Gaudete!: Dr. Kevorkian

Semper Gaudete!: This Week, I've Felt....

Semper Gaudete!: Old Fashioned?

Semper Gaudete!: The Da Vinci Code

Semper Gaudete!: Old Meets New: The Gold Rush

Semper Gaudete!: Books Read in the Past Week

Books Read in the Past Week

"The B.Y. Times
Summer Daze"
"The B.Y. Times
Here We Go Again!"
"The B.Y. Times
The New Kids"
"The B.Y. Times
Dollars and Sense"
by Leah Klein
(children's fiction, Jewish)

"Cress Delahanty"
by Jessamyn West
(fiction)

"Mama's Bank Account"
by Kathryn Forbes
(fiction)

"Travelers Along The Way
The Men and Women Who Shaped My Life"
by Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R
(biography, Catholic)



"The Home Has A Heart"
by Thyra Ferre Bjorn
(non-fiction, Christian (Protestant) themes,
anecdotes, recipes)
[June chapter only]

Old Meets New: The Gold Rush

A classic silent film from 1925.

The Da Vinci Code

I have never read The Da Vinci Code, nor have I seen
the movie. I get my bologna from a deli!

Old Fashioned?

When someone tells me that praying the Rosary is
old-fashioned, I like to answer, "Well, so is eating, but you wouldn't want to do without it."

This Week, I've Felt....

.... Sneezy, Sleepy, a bit Dopey, and even a little Grumpy.
Having a cold seems to dwarf everything else!

Dr. Kevorkian

Article
I'd like to think that he was well-meaning, but mistaken. He wanted to
alleviate pain (which is part of being a good doctor), but went about it
in a sadly, no, a tragically wrong way.