Walt Whitman Said It So Much Better Than I Could

Mom and I were sitting outside on the porch a little while ago when we saw a little bit of light behind the roof of a recently-built apartment house across the street.  It was the moon coming up.
I murmured, "Lo! The moon ascending."  
When I came back inside, I Googled those words so that I could read the rest of Walt Whitman's poem.


" Lo! the moon ascending!         
Up from the east, the silvery round moon;  
Beautiful over the house tops, ghastly phantom moon;  
    Immense and silent moon."

 I discovered that this verse is actually part of a longer poem, and seems a bit different when read in the context of the rest of that poem.
(Someday I'm going to read Leaves of Grass in its entirety.)
I have seen many sunrises, but I have very seldom seen a moonrise.  And the fact that it was blue moon (the second full moon this month) made the event, for to me it was an event, an unexpected treat, even more special.

Game Removed!

I've removed  a game from the "Games and Puzzles" page because it had an advertisement that was not appropriate for this blog.

A Must See Episode of EWTN Live

I am really looking forward to Fr. Maurice's series!

The Gospel in the Digital Age

The Gospel in the Digital Age

This is a beautiful post with a great pro-life message by New York's Cardinal Timothy Dolan.  I just had to share it.  
I've also added Cardinal Dolan's blog to my blog list, and subscribed to his tweets.

Farmor

 Lately, I've been researching my family tree from both my parents' sides.
 I never met my paternal grandmother, who is deceased now. She lived too far
 away, and somehow we just never got in touch. 
(My paternal grandfather died before I was born.)
Well, the other day I joined ancestry.com, and since then I've made a few discoveries
about my father's family, the family I never really knew.
I always knew that my father was born in Wisconsin, but now I know the name of the town: New London. 
I've known for a long time that his mother was of Swedish descent, but until a couple of days ago, I did not know that her given name was Estella (which is funny because I've always liked that name!) and she was born in Michigan, probably in Menominee Ward 7, Menominee, Michigan.  
Also, I never knew her maiden name, but now I believe it was Janson.  My reason for believing this is that her parents (my paternal great-grandparents) came from Sweden, as did the parents of the Estella whose maiden name was Janson.
But I haven't, so far, been able to find out what part of Sweden they came from.
And now, the reason I've named this post Farmor.  That is the Swedish word for one's paternal grandmother.  I would like to have called my paternal grandmother "Farmor."

Frustrating Candy

These candy buttons used to drive me crazy when I was a kid. I never could eat them without getting paper in my mouth AND in my teeth.

New Picture in, and Decision About, my Rosary Art Collection

I've added a new picture to my Rosary Art Collection.
I've also decided that from now on, Sunday will be my day for working on this collection. Just one more way of enhancing my Sundays!

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

I'd like to invite you to join me and a growing (and may it continue to grow!) group of Catholic bloggers at Sunday Snippets. Thanks to RAnn for hosting! I've discovered some wonderful blogs here.

Semper Gaudete!: Brown vs. Gray (Helen Gurley and Nellie) BY FR. FRANK PAVONE

Semper Gaudete!: Homily 2012-08-18- Fr. Wade Menezes - Saturday Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Semper Gaudete!: Homily 2012-08-19- Fr. Wade Menezes -Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Semper Gaudete!: Homily 2012-08-21 - Fr Wade Menezes CPM - St Pius X Pope (Memorial)

Semper Gaudete!: A Song I Didn't Know that I Knew

Semper Gaudete!: Approaching Two Collections From Opposite Directions

Semper Gaudete!: I'm SO Glad I Found this Picture!

Semper Gaudete!: Summer is Winding Down

Semper Gaudete!: Books Read in the Past Week

Books Read in the Past Week

Books read for the first time are marked with a #

"The Miraculous Medal"

 by Mary Fabyan Windeatt

[biography, age 10 and up]

(Read on Sunday)

"Jack and Jill"

by Louisa May Alcott

[fiction]

{Carried over from last week}
"The School Queens" #
by L. T. Meade
[children's fiction]
(Free Kindle Cloud Reader book)
"Marya of Clark Avenue"
by Marie Halun Bloch
[children's fiction, based on the author's childhood]
(this is one of my VERY  favorite books,
one of my SPECIAL books.)
{carrying over into next week}

Summer is Winding Down

Summer is winding down, and before it is over I want to:

Re-read Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

Go on the boardwalk and look at the ocean

(I'd have to go with Mom because of my balance problem)

See the Friday Night fireworks.

(Again, I'd have to go with Mom)

Eat Italian ices 

(I don't know why I haven't bought any this summer!)

Re-read The City Boy by Herman Wouk

I'm SO Glad I Found this Picture!

Street in Viznitz, near the Ringleplatz

My Baba came from Viznitz, so I am absolutely delighted to have discovered this photo online.
I wonder, did she often walk along this street? Might it even, perhaps, be the street where she lived as a young girl? And do the descendants of any of her friends and playmates live there even now?
These questions, I cannot answer. What I do know is that this is a little piece of my family history.

Approaching Two Collections From Opposite Directions

[The title of this post almost rhymes! LOL.]

The way I collect decorative magnets, and the way I collect "Break-Offs" are very different.
For my decorative magnet collection, I will often look for a specific kind of magnet, such as a bird, a fish, or a fruit. I spend money (not too much due to being on a fixed income) on this collection.
This is not the way I add to my Break-Off Collection. I never look for any specific item, although there are some I'd like to have, such as a handle from a dresser drawer.
I simply add items as I find them, and I will never spend money on this collection.
One thing I do with both my offline collections is to catalog them on my computer. Another thing, and this is the most important thing, that I do with both of my offline collections is.....

ENJOY THEM!!!

A Song I Didn't Know that I Knew

When I was little, I used to love watching Davey and Goliath. Yep, a little Jewish girl watching a Christian show! But back then, I wasn't really aware that it was a Christian, or even a religious, program. To me, it was just a show about a boy with a talking dog. After all, in those days, even families on secular programs talked about God, and went to church.
Years later, when I was at camp, I went to church in the nearby village with a boy I liked. It was a Lutheran church, and the first hymn listed was one I didn't think I was familiar with: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.    But when the organist started playing, I remember thinking, "Hey! That's the music from Davey and Goliath!"
And even now, I think of A Mighty Fortress is Our God as the Davey and Goliath music!

Homily 2012-08-21 - Fr Wade Menezes CPM - St Pius X Pope (Memorial)

This homily includes Eight things God will not ask us on Judgement Day.

Homily 2012-08-19- Fr. Wade Menezes -Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

This is an absolutely beautiful homily, not to be missed.

Homily 2012-08-18- Fr. Wade Menezes - Saturday Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Great homily from Fr. Wade.

Brown vs. Gray (Helen Gurley and Nellie) BY FR. FRANK PAVONE

Brown vs. Gray (Helen Gurley and Nellie) | LifeSiteNews.com

Fr. Wade Menezes mentioned, and highly commended, this editorial in his homily on EWTN this morning.

Sunday Snippet--A Catholic Carnival

Join me and a growing group of Catholic bloggers at Sunday Snippets.
Thanks to RAnn for hosting! I've discovered some wonderful blogs here.

Semper Gaudete!: Too controversial for social media

Semper Gaudete!: Support a Catholic Speaker Month 2012 – Vote for your Favorites

Semper Gaudete!: Homily 2012-08-13 - Monday Weekday - Fr. Joseph Mary MFVA

Semper Gaudete!: Sunday Benediction - 2012-08-12 - Fr. Patrick MaryEWTN

Semper Gaudete!: Homily 2012-08-14 - Fr. Mitch Pacwa - St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, Priest, Martyr

Semper Gaudete!: Nellie Gray's Influence on Fr. Frank Pavone

Semper Gaudete!: Is It A Sin? It All Depends

Semper Gaudete!: New Item in Vintage Media Collection

Semper Gaudete!: It Pays to Rummage!

Semper Gaudete!: Books Read in the Past Week

Support a Catholic Speaker Month 2012 – Vote for your Favorites

Support a Catholic Speaker Month 2012 – Vote for your Favorites

Thank God, we can vote for up to 15 speakers!

Books Read in the Past Week

Books read for the first time are marked with a #

"The Mass in Sacred Scripture" #

by Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers

[nonfiction, Catholic]

(Kindle Cloud Reader Edition)

{read on Sunday}
"Deira Joins the Chalet School"
by Caroline German
(fill-in)
[children's fiction, series, school stories]
{carried over from last week}
"Tarry Awhile"
"Something Borrowed, Something Blue"

by Lenora Mattingly Weber

 [teen fiction, Catholic family, series]
"Jack and Jill"
by Louisa May Alcott
[fiction]
{carrying over into next week}

It Pays to Rummage!

Today, while doing a little closet-rummaging, I found something new (old!) for my Break-Off collection.   It is a  frond from a blue plastic aquarium plant, blue, rather feathery-looking. It is actually one of many that I used to have, although none of them ever graced an

aquarium.  I used them to decorate my apartment!

New Item in Vintage Media Collection

I've just added this commercial from 1947 to my Vintage Media Collection.

Is It A Sin? It All Depends

There are certain actions, for example theft, or murder, which are sinful for everybody.   And then there are those actions which are sinful for some people, but not for others.

Case in point: As a Catholic, I can eat pork without committing a sin.  My observant Jewish neighbors, however, cannot.

I had planned to write a long post on this subject, but I've decided against it.  After all, a long

post is not really needed here.

Besides, when you get right down to it, there is really only one sin, and every sinful action or

omission is just another form of that one sin: 

DISOBEDIENCE.

Nellie Gray's Influence on Fr. Frank Pavone

Fr. Pavone: Nellie Gray was “a tireless warrior for the unborn”

Nellie Gray, who started the March for Life in Washington, DC,  passed away this weekend.
I am sure that she is continuing her pro-life work in Heaven.

Homily 2012-08-14 - Fr. Mitch Pacwa - St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, Priest, Martyr

A wonderful homily from Fr. Mitch.

Sunday Benediction - 2012-08-12 - Fr. Patrick MaryEWTN

Fr. Patrick says some beautiful things about spiritual reading.

Homily 2012-08-13 - Monday Weekday - Fr. Joseph Mary MFVA

Another great homily!   Don't miss the story of Sally Reed, and the anecdote about Michael Jordan and a lesser-known player.

Too controversial for social media

Too controversial for social media

This video contains graphic, disturbing images of aborted babies.  

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

I'd like to invite you to join me and a growing group of Catholic bloggers at Sunday Snippets. Thanks to RAnn for hosting! I've discovered some wonderful blogs here.

Semper Gaudete!: Priests for Life, Father Pavone praised in Congress

Semper Gaudete!: Almost Familiar

Semper Gaudete!: Not Believing, Yet Pleasing to God

Semper Gaudete!: New Magnets Ordered

Semper Gaudete!: Unanswerable Questions

Semper Gaudete!: Homily 2012-08-10 - Rev Br John Paul Mary MFVA - St Lawrence Deacon Martyr

Semper Gaudete!: Too Cute in Spots

Semper Gaudete!: Books Read in the Past Week

Books Read in the Past Week

Books read for the first time are marked with a #

"Welcome, Stranger" 

{carried over from last week}

"Pick a New Dream"

 by Lenora Mattingly Weber

 [teen fiction, Catholic family, series]

"Emily's Hope" #

by Ellen Gable

[Catholic fiction, partly historical]

"Under the Lilacs"

by Louisa May Alcott

[fiction]
"Deira Joins the Chalet School"
by Caroline German
(fill-in)
[children's fiction, series, school stories]
{carrying over into next week}

Too Cute in Spots

I love Louisa May Alcott's books. (I think we've already established that!) However, there are certain parts of Under The Lilacs that I find just a bit too cute.
For example, several times LMA refers to the dog, Sancho, as a Bow Wow. I hate to say it, but that almost makes me want to bark, er, barf!

Homily 2012-08-10 - Rev Br John Paul Mary MFVA - St Lawrence Deacon Martyr

A good homily from Deacon John Paul.   I found it rather fitting that a deacon should deliver today's homily.   After all, St. Lawrence, whose feast we are commemorating today, was a deacon as well as a martyr.

Unanswerable Questions

Sometimes, when I read an old book, or rather an old, used copy of a book, I find myself wondering about the book's earlier, or I should say earliest readers. For example I'm currently reading a copy of Louisa May Alcott's Under the Lilacs which came out in 1905.

I wonder about the first person, who was, I assume, perhaps erroneously, a young girl, who read this particular copy. Where did she live? What else was going on in her life? What games did she play? What were her friends like? Did she enjoy school, or was school a struggle for her? Did she have a yard or a garden with a lilac bush, and actually read this book under the lilacs? Or did she sigh wistfully, and wish she knew how lilacs smell?

New Magnets Ordered

I've just ordered two more magnets for my collection.

Not Believing, Yet Pleasing to God

There are, right now, many Catholics who do not follow the teachings of the Church.   They do not believe in the Real Presence.  They do not believe in the Infallibility of the Pope.  They do not obey the laws of the Church.  They do not pray.

And yet, these Catholics are pleasing to God.

Why?

They are babies.

Almost Familiar

I found an old, round brass knob in a drawer in the kitchen today. Of course, it's going into my Break-off Collection.
The funny thing is that it is almost familiar; I can almost remember the piece of furniture it came from.
Almost familiar; like a snatch of music from an old song you almost think you know; a song you very likely did know when you were very, very little.
Almost familiar, like old, faded photographs of people and/or places you almost think you remember. But do you remember them from having seen them yourself, or from having been told about them by your parents and grandparents?
And where did that knob come from?

Priests for Life, Father Pavone praised in Congress

Priests for Life, Father Pavone praised in Congress

And deservedly so!   As a pro-lifer, and a supporter of Priests for Life, I am DELIGHTED to share this.

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

I'd like to invite you to join me and a growing group of Catholic bloggers at
Sunday Snippets. Thanks to RAnn for hosting. I've found some wonderful blogs here.


Semper Gaudete!: Connecting a Picture and a Quote

Semper Gaudete!: Beyond creepy: Obama uses daughters to push abortion | LifeSiteNews.com

Semper Gaudete!: Set of Magnets Ordered

Semper Gaudete!: Chaplet for Those in Danger of Dying in Mortal Sin

Semper Gaudete!: What???? ANOTHER Collection????

Semper Gaudete!: My Review of "Moved By Faith: Stories from American Catholic Radio"

Semper Gaudete!: Homily 2012-07-31 - Fr Mitch Pacwa SJ - St Ignatius of Loyola - Priest

Semper Gaudete!: Homily 2012-08-02 - Fr Anthony Mary MFVA - Our Lady of the Angels of Portiuncula

Semper Gaudete!: Books Read In The Past Week

Homily 2012-08-02 - Fr Anthony Mary MFVA - Our Lady of the Angels of Portiuncula

A wonderful homily from Fr. Anthony on a Franciscan feast day.

Books Read In The Past Week

Books read for the first time are marked with a #

"Jo of the Chalet School" 
by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
"The Guides of the Chalet School"
by Jane Berry
{carried over from last week}

"Juliet of the Chalet School"

by Caroline German

(the last two books are fill-ins)

[children's fiction, series, school stories] 

"Wind, Sand and Stars" #

By Antoine de Saint Exupery
[memoir]
"Welcome, Stranger" 

 by Lenora Mattingly Weber
 [teen fiction, Catholic family, series]
{carrying over into next week}
(It's about time I got back to the Beany Malone
books; it's been a few months since I read the
previous one.  Not that I haven't already read 
the entire series over and over!)

Homily 2012-07-31 - Fr Mitch Pacwa SJ - St Ignatius of Loyola - Priest

Great homily from Fr. Mitch about the Founder of the Jesuits.

My Review of "Moved By Faith: Stories from American Catholic Radio"

 Producer Judy Zarick has compiled a fascinating collection of stories from American Catholic Radio's weekly Living Faith segment.

I'd like to tell you about two of my favorite stories in this book.


"Baby Not Breathing" 
 which tells how police medic Tim Jaccard became a "health proxy" for murdered, abandoned babies, so that they could at least be given the dignity of a name, and a decent burial.
Later on, though, he was inspired to take things further; to save as many babies as he
could from becoming victims of infanticide.
It is thanks to Tim Jaccard that mothers can now turn their babies over to a safe haven.


"Gabriel's Gift,"
 which tells how JoAnne Cascia was advised to terminate her pregnancy, because her baby had 
a condition called thantophoric skeletal dysplasia, which meant that he would die soon after being born.
Abortion, however, was not an option for JoAnne and her husband.  Their friends, family and co-workers supported them.  It was only the doctors who urged them to end the pregnancy.
 Finally, though, JoAnne found St. Peter's,  a Catholic hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey. 
There, Gabriel was delivered by C-section on February 24th, 2004, and was baptized.  Family and close friends were at the hospital.  Gabriel lived for an hour and a half.  During that time, he was kissed and loved.
Later on, Joanne met Pamela Houghton, who had also gone through a pregnancy with a fatal
prognosis.  Together, they formed a network to help other mothers in similar situations.

Each story ends with an update, telling what these people have been doing since their stories were broadcast.  There is also a set of questions called "Moved to Action: Questions for Thought" at the end of each chapter.


 I really enjoyed this book, but I must end this review with a confession, or rather, an admission.
 When I requested this book, I had never heard of American Catholic Radio, and so I expected to read about Catholics in the thirties, forties, and fifties.


This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Moved by Faith Stories From American Catholic Radi. The Catholic Company is also a great online store for all your Catholic gift needs, such as baby baptism and christening gifts. You can also find a wide selection of Catholic Bible Studies for both parish groups and individuals, as well as a variety of other Catholic Bible studyresources.

What???? ANOTHER Collection????

Yes, you read that right. I've started another offline collection in addition to my Decorative Magnets Collection. This collection, however, is a bit more unusual, a bit less conventional. [Did I say a bit?]
I've started collecting what might be called "Break-offs." These are items which have become detached from other, larger objects. So far, I have 3 "Break-offs" in my collection:
Item:
Fish-shaped zipper pull with the
word BLOWFISH.
Parent Object:
Bible cover.
Item:
Dial with channel numbers.
Parent Object:
Old tv set.
Item
Whimsical wooden duck.
Parent Object:
Kitchen memo holder.

Naturally, items with sharp edges will not go into my collection!

Chaplet for Those in Danger of Dying in Mortal Sin

I've composed a chaplet for those in danger of dying in mortal sin.

For private recitation only.
This chaplet is prayed using an ordinary rosary.

Begin with the Sign of the Cross.
Say, "Lord, I offer this chaplet for those in danger of dying in mortal sin."
Pray:
1 Our Father
1 Hail Mary,
1 Glory Be
The Decades:
On the large beads:
"O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy."
On the ten small beads:
"Our Lady, Refuge of Sinners, pray for us."
After the last decade:
"Jesus, Mary, I love you, save souls." [three times]
Finish with the Sign of the Cross