Saints, Feast, Family
- Traditions passed down with Cooking, Crafting, & Caring -
August 9
Saint of the day:
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
Patron Saint of Europe; loss of parents; converted Jews; martyrs; World Youth Day
NIC’s
Corner-Be not a Dick
The result of humility and fear of the LORD is
riches, honor and life. Train the young in the way they should go; even when
old, they will not swerve from it. (Proverbs 22: 4&6)
·
Richard Nixon
resigns as President 1974
o
Relativism
bases itself in our emotional being more important than our rational being in decision
making and in the pursuit of truth. Since, everything is subjective, truth is
what I feel it is based on my own perceived emotional needs and passions. My
passions and emotions are the filters through which I define my reality. So,
what happens when my reality does not line up with your reality? You have to be
wrong and must align yourself to my reality. If you don't, then I will call you
intolerant and if you try to express your opinion contrary to mine, then I will
shout you down. Does this sound familiar?
o
Our
society is rife with relativism. It has long trumped faith; now it trumps
science and empirical evidence. If I am a male and feel that I am not. You must
accept. If I am sexually attracted to...well...anything, you must accept it. If
I believe that I should get everything for free, you must give it.
Progressivism is relativistic. It is why everything, every belief, every
thought, and every word must be a reflection of itself. It is the powertrain of
narcissism.
AUGUST 9 Friday Vigil of St.
Lawrence-fast day
ST. BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS- ELVIS -BOOK
LOVERS
Judges, Chapter 6, Verse 27
So, Gideon took ten of his servants
and did as the LORD had commanded him. But he was too AFRAID of his family and of the townspeople to do it by day; he did
it at night.
Heed
the words of Saint John Paul the Great:
Evil is
never defeated by evil; once that road is taken, rather than defeating evil, one will instead be defeated by evil.
Peace
is the outcome of a long and demanding battle which is only won when evil is
defeated by good.
Flee what is evil and hold fast to what is good (cf. Rom 12:9).
Peace
is a good to be promoted with good: it is a good for individuals, for families,
for nations and for all humanity; yet it is one which needs to be maintained
and fostered by decisions and actions inspired by good.
"Repay no one evil for evil" (Rom 12:17).
The one
way out of the vicious circle of requiting evil for evil is
"Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil
with good" (Rom
12:21).
At its
deepest level, evil is a tragic rejection of the demands of love. Moral good,
on the other hand, is born of love, shows itself as love and is directed
towards love. All this is particularly evident to Christians, who know that
their membership in the one mystical Body of Christ sets them in a particular
relationship not only with the Lord but also with their brothers and sisters.
The inner logic of Christian love, which in the Gospel is the living source of
moral goodness, leads even to the love of one's enemies:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is
thirsty, give him something to drink" (Rom 12:20).[1]
Heed
the words of Saint John Paul the Great.
Vigil of St. Lawrence[2]
August 9th is a liturgical oddity in many respects in the 1962 Calendar and Divine Office. Whereas in the pre-1955 Office today is the Feast Day of St. John Vianney with a Commemoration of the Vigil of St. Lawrence and a Commemoration of St. Romanus, in the 1962 Office it is the Vigil of St. Lawrence with a Commemoration of St. Romanus.
While
nearly all Vigils were removed between 1954 and 1962 from the Calendar (e.g.
Vigil of the Immaculate Conception, Vigils for the Apostles feast days, Vigil
of All Saints, etc.), the Vigil of St. Lawrence alone remained. And what is really unique is that
in the 1962 Office today's Vespers is of the Vigil of St. Lawrence and not 1st
Vespers for St. Lawrence. This is a true oddity.
Let us keep in mind today that as a Vigil we should perform penance in
anticipation for tomorrow's feast day of one of the greatest Deacons in the
Church - St. Lawrence. May he, the glorious martyr St. Lawrence, intercede for all clerics and all
the Faithful in the Church. Today was kept as a fast day for instance in
some Western Colonies of the United States longer than in some other areas.
In keeping with the
ancient custom for this Vigil, let us observe it as a day of fasting and
abstinence. In years when the Vigil falls on a Sunday, the fasting and
abstinence were anticipated on Saturday prior
to the changes under Pope St. Pius X.
Today is also the
Commemoration of St. Romanus, the neophyte who died just days before St.
Lawrence. May his prayers help preserve us from sin and help us win the grace
of final perseverance.
Collects:
Attend, O Lord, to Our supplications, and by the intercession of Thy blessed
martyr, Lawrence, whose feast we anticipate, graciously bestow upon us Thy
everlasting mercy.
Grant, we beseech Thee, O
Almighty God, that by the intercession of blessed Romanus, Thy martyr, we may
both be delivered from all adversities in body and be purified from all evil
thoughts in mind. Through our Lord, etc.
St. Teresa Benedicta of
the Cross[3]
A brilliant philosopher
who stopped believing in God when she was fourteen, Edith Stein was so
captivated by reading the autobiography of Teresa of Avila that she began a
spiritual journey that led to her Baptism in 1922. Twelve years later she
imitated Teresa by becoming a Carmelite, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of
the Cross. Born into a prominent Jewish family in Breslau (now Wroclaw,
Poland), Edith abandoned Judaism in her teens. As a student at the University
of Gottingen, she became fascinated by phenomenology, an approach to
philosophy. Excelling as a protege of Edmund Husserl, one of the leading
phenomenologists, Edith earned a doctorate in philosophy in 1916. She continued
as a university teacher until 1922 when she moved to a Dominican school in
Speyer; her appointment as lecturer at the Educational Institute of Munich
ended under pressure from the Nazis. After living in the Cologne Carmel
(1934-1938), she moved to the Carmelite monastery in Echt, Netherlands. The
Nazis occupied that country in 1940. In retaliation for being denounced by the
Dutch bishops, the Nazis arrested all Dutch Jews who had become Christians.
Teresa Benedicta and her sister Rosa, also a Catholic, died in a gas chamber in
Auschwitz on August 9, 1942.
Things to Do:
·
In the month of August, we celebrate two martyrs
of Auschwitz, St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Teresa Benedicta. We need to pray,
hard and often that our world does not return to the inhumanity to man. The
acceptance of euthanasia and abortion, embryonic stem cell research, IVF, are
the first steps to deciding who can live or who can die. Offer a Mass, say a
rosary, offer sacrifices, etc. to end abortion and other sins against mankind.
Read about Auschwitz and ponder the modern gas chambers in every state
of our Union and resolve to do all that you can to end the killing.
·
Read more about Edith Stein at this site.
· To teach the children more about this saint, discuss topics such as these at age-appropriate levels:
1.
Definition of a martyr.
2.
Discussion of the Jews as our older brothers and
sisters in the Faith. In the Eucharistic Prayer I (the Roman Canon) we refer to
"Abraham, our father in faith."
3.
Discussion of the call of Truth, its claim on us,
despite the cost.
4.
Edith Stein's reason for taking the name
"Teresa."
5.
Discussion of patron saints and what it means to our
daily lives.
6.
For younger children, discuss on simpler terms ideas
such as complete love of God; our daily crosses; meaning of sacrifice; and how
to make small but meaningful sacrifices for God.
·
Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta) was a
philosopher and prolific writer. Her writings are available from ICS
Publications. Of special note is her Essays on Woman.
·
Catholic Culture's library contains two writings
of Edith Stein:
The Vocation of the Soul to Eternal Life, and Verses For a Pentecost Novena
·
For more about Edith Stein, see Catholic
Culture's Search Engine and type "Edith Stein".
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
Day 56
III. ORIGINAL SIN
Freedom put to the test
396 God created man in his
image and established him in his friendship. A spiritual creature, man can live
this friendship only in free submission to God. The prohibition against eating
"of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" spells this out: "for
in the day that you eat of it, you shall die." The "tree of the
knowledge of good and evil" symbolically evokes the insurmountable
limits that man, being a creature, must freely recognize and respect with
trust. Man is dependent on his Creator, and subject to the laws of creation and
to the moral norms that govern the use of freedom.
Man's first sin
397 Man, tempted by the devil,
let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom,
disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of. All
subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness.
398 In that sin man preferred
himself to God and by that very act scorned him. He chose himself over and
against God, against the requirements of his creaturely status and therefore
against his own good. Created in a state of holiness, man was destined to be
fully "divinized" by God in glory. Seduced by the devil, he wanted to
"be like God", but "without God, before God, and not in
accordance with God".
399 Scripture portrays the
tragic consequences of this first disobedience. Adam and Eve immediately lose
the grace of original holiness. They become afraid of the God of whom they
have conceived a distorted image - that of a God jealous of his prerogatives.
400 The harmony in which they
had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control
of the soul's spiritual faculties over the body is shattered; the union of man
and woman becomes subject to tensions, their relations henceforth marked by
lust and domination. Harmony with creation is broken: visible creation has
become alien and hostile to man. Because of man, creation is now subject
"to its bondage to decay". Finally, the consequence explicitly
foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will "return to the
ground", for out of it he was taken. Death makes its entrance into
human history.
401 After that first sin, the
world is virtually inundated by sin There is Cain's murder of his brother Abel
and the universal corruption which follows in the wake of sin. Likewise, sin
frequently manifests itself in the history of Israel, especially as infidelity
to the God of the Covenant and as transgression of the Law of Moses. and even
after Christ's atonement, sin raises its head in countless ways among
Christians. Scripture and the Church's Tradition continually recall the
presence and universality of sin in man's history:
What
Revelation makes known to us is confirmed by our own experience. For when man
looks into his own heart he finds that he is drawn towards what is wrong and
sunk in many evils which cannot come from his good creator. Often refusing to
acknowledge God as his source, man has also upset the relationship which should
link him to his last end, and at the same time he has broken the right order
that should reign within himself as well as between himself and other men and
all creatures.
August 9-17-Elvis
Week (Memphis, TN)
Shake, rattle and roll! Memphis, TN, marks its annual Elvis Week
celebration each August. There's always something for Elvis fans, including the
big draw each year, the annual Elvis Tribute Artists contest. Who will be
crowned the King?
Elvis and the Miracle of the Rosary[4]
Known by his fans as the “King of Rock n’ Roll,” Presley’s religious faith is often listed simply as being a follower of the Assembly of God. Although this was the Christian group that Presley attended as a boy, his religious adherence to any Christian denomination was at best vague, his faith being more private than public. Of course, Gospel-singing was close to his heart, and he is quoted as saying that it was his favorite form of music, but whether this was because of the folk and cultural influences of his youth rather than any deep religious sentiment is open to conjecture.
What is known is that Presley had a
keen, if eclectic, interest in religion. While in Hollywood in the early 1960s
he became fascinated by various esoteric beliefs and later was to construct his
own belief system out of this. One biographer succinctly summed up Presley’s
beliefs as “a personalized religion [made] out of what he’d read of Hinduism,
Judaism, numerology, theosophy, mind control, positive thinking and
Christianity.”
Among his Gospel songs, there is one
that is curious to say the least. It is a song called Miracle of the Rosary.
The writer of the sleeve notes on one collection of his Gospel music, while
able to place Presley’s other Gospel songs in the religious and social context
of the American South, is clearly at a loss as to how to categorize Miracle
of the Rosary in that, or, indeed, any way. This is not surprising, as the
song appears to be about the powerful intercession of Our Blessed Mother in the
End Times. The track may be short, running for just over two minutes, but there
is still time for Elvis to fully intone the Hail Mary.
The origins of Miracle of the
Rosary are odd too. The song appeared on the 1972 album Elvis Now, but
Presley had recorded it earlier in May 1971. The song was written by one of
Elvis’s childhood friends, Lee Denson. Denson was the son of a Pentecostal
minister. It remains unclear as to why a son of a Pentecostal minister should
write a song about the power of the Rosary and then why a non-Catholic singer
should choose to record it.
Only one female co-star appeared in
two of Presley’s films: Dolores Hart. To the shock of the movie business, she
left Hollywood to enter religious life. In 1970, the then-film star entered the
Benedictine Abbey of Regina Laudis, Connecticut, where she remains a cloistered
nun to this day. The night before she entered the monastery, Presley
unexpectedly called her to wish her well in her vocation. He was one of the few
in her former Hollywood circle that did so. Later, long after his death in
1977, she was to say that she had never stopped praying for Elvis.
The name of the Benedictine monastery
in Connecticut dedicated to Our Lady, Regina Laudis, in English means “the
Queen of Praise.” Shortly after Hart’s entry there, mysteriously, a “king” was
to praise that same Queen by singing Miracle of the Rosary.
Book
Lovers Day[5]
·
From the scent of a rare first edition book found in an old-time
book collection, to a crisp, fresh book at the local supermarket, the very
sight of a book can bring back memories. Reading as a child, enjoying the short
stories, the long books and the ability to lose yourself in a story so powerful
that at the end your asking yourself where to get the next book in the series.
This is for the reader in all of us, the celebration of Book Lovers Day!
While the day’s origins
may be shrouded in mystery and rumor, the books themselves are not. Started
from carving on stone tablets, the book was designed to make portable the
writings and drawings of those that could not carry around stone tablets.
Originally it was parchment or vellum (calf skin, in case you were wondering)
was bound tightly with a wooden cover. Often the wooden cover was tightly
wrapped in leather to prevent the wood from getting wet and had clasps or
straps to hold it shut. In the more modern age, printing capabilities made
books cheaper, and easier, to print. The printing press, the typewriter, and
the computer all had an effect on the market for books. But more so than most,
is the upsurge in electronic devices that can be used to read on. Computers,
tablets, and most cell phones now have the ability to read books, making it
that much easier to carry around a small library to enjoy no matter where you are.
How to celebrate Book Lovers Day
In order to truly
appreciate Book Lovers Day, one must only find a story and read it. Maybe you
wish to dive into the unknown with a good mystery, or see magic in a high
fantasy setting, or be enthralled in a steamy romance. The individual genre of
your reading is not the big piece of this, just that you do read is.
Maybe a visit to your
local library is in order?
After
all public libraries existed even way back in the Middle Ages, but they didn’t
really let many folks take books home. The librarians in those days chained
books to shelves or desks in order to prevent theft of carefully hand-written
tomes. Many librarians will gladly help you find a title to read, giving a
brief explanation on what it is about if they have read it, or giving it a
little flip and reading about it quickly in the synopsis. But no matter your
preference, if you read it at home with a cup of tea, share a book meeting with
friends or go to the library and make use of the wonderful pieces on those
shelves, just enjoy your reading, revel in the book and find a way to read
during Book Lovers Day!
Fitness Friday-The 5 Switches
of Manliness: Nature[6]
In this Switches of Manliness series, we’ve been talking about those unique parts of a man’s psyche that have fallen into disuse in the modern world and need to be reactivated. But there’s likely some overlap between the needs of men and the needs of women; for example, primitive women used to be quite physical too, and I think modern women need to have an element of physicality in their lives as well. But with this switch, there’s definitely more than a little overlap. The Switch of Nature is for everyone. Men. Women. Children. Squirrels. Well, I think squirrels have it down pretty well. But it’s for everyone and their mom. Literally—your mom needs it too.
Man’s Separation from Nature: The
Third “Frontier”
With the rest of the switches, there
was a good amount of theorizing going on as we looked back in time and tried to
uncover the life and perspective of primitive man. But with this switch, we
don’t have to speculate—we can say this with 100% certitude: primitive man
spent a lot more time outside in nature than modern man does. Primitive people
were surrounded by nature all day, every day. Their lives revolved around it:
they supped from it; they created with it; they protected themselves from it;
they even worshipped it.
A life that centered on a deep, vital
connection to nature was the norm for humans for tens of thousands of years.
This connection would only fall apart when the rise of settled agriculture and
then the Industrial Revolution made it possible for more and more people to
make a living in a way that did not involve the land.
Nature
and a Man’s Health
Every
organism has an ideal habitat; take it out of its habitat and it could die, or
at least suffer ill effects.
·
Time spent outdoors is linked with
lower levels of obesity.
·
Nature keeps you mentally sharp.
Cities, with their constant noise, crowds of people, and lack of natural
surroundings, can tax the human brain. In fact, studies have shown a link
between being brought up in the city and the chance of a person developing
schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses.
·
Researchers have found that a walk
in nature, where stimuli makes a much less dramatic play for our involuntary
attention, allows our directed attention to have a rest, leaving it primed and
ready to tackle difficult cognitive tasks once more.
·
Nature promotes calmness and fights
depression. In a study done in Japan, researchers found that after a 20-minute
walk in the forest, participants had “lower concentrations of cortisol, lower
pulse rate, lower blood pressure, greater parasympathetic nerve activity, and
lower sympathetic nerve activity” than those who spent time in the city
instead.
·
Those with children, especially
boys, should know that studies have also shown that spending time in nature can
alleviate the symptoms of ADHD.
·
Nature boosts your testosterone.
·
Nature fights cancer. In another
study done in Japan, researchers had participants spend 3 days and 2 nights in
the woods; the participants took long walks in the forest during the day and
stayed at a hotel near the forest at night. The participants showed a 50%
increase in “natural killer cells” (a component of the body’s immune system
that fights cancerous growths), as well as an increase in other anti-cancer
proteins. This boost in NK activity lasted for a month after the experience,
showing that even if you can only tear out into the woods once in a while, it
is certainly worth it.
Nature
and Man’s Soul
“Man’s heart away from nature becomes hard; [The
Lakota] knew that lack of respect for growing, living things soon led to a lack
of respect for humans too.” –Standing Bear
Cynicism. I personally believe it is one of the biggest, if
not the biggest threat to manliness. Cynicism makes a man jaded and saps his ability to
experience wonder and amazement; nature restores it. Nature gives a man back a
bit of the heart of a boy, a heart that can acknowledge some mystery in the
world.
Nature increases your humility. Some studies have shown that narcissism is on the rise among young people.
Parents coddle their kids and build up their self-esteem to the point they feel
invincible. And technology caters to our every whim, molding itself to our
personal interests and preferences.
Nature is pretty and
soothing…. but it can also literally kill you. It’s not just lovely
sunsets and breathtaking canyon views. It’s also grizzly bears and perfect
storms. Out in nature you get a renewed sense of your vulnerability. At the
foot of a mountain, you sense your true smallness in the world. And nature quickly
shatters any notion that the universe revolves around you; it doesn’t stop
raining just because you picked that day to go camping.
Nature heightens your senses. We talk through phones and
computers. We are entertained through our televisions. We get our food through
the grocery store. All of our experiences are mediated through middlemen.
When was the last time
you had a direct, primary
experience?
Nature
lets you take in all the elements in their most primitive forms, before they’ve
been packaged for your consumption.
Nature heightens your creativity. Studies that observed children at
play found that they engaged in more imaginative, explorative, and creative
play when they played in open, green spaces than when they played on asphalt
and in structured spaces. Free of the structure of our daily lives, the lines
and rules that rein us in, the minds of adults too, are free to wander. Nature
allows both your body and mind to explore, which can lead you to fresh insights
about life.
Nature heightens your spirituality. If you’re a religious guy, perhaps
the best way to feel close to the Creator is to wander among His creations. The
experiences I’ve had where I’ve felt closest to God have not happened in a
church pew, but out in the woods.
Nature centers you.
It’s an ineffable feeling that I’ve found nowhere else. The jangled pieces of
my life that have been rattling around inside my head just fall into place. And
I feel a stillness and a peace.
How to
Turn the Switch of Nature
Of all the Switches of Manliness, the Switch of Nature
is perhaps easiest to turn. There are so many small things you can do to get a
bit more of the outdoors inside of yourself. Remember, even looking through a
window at nature helps people (so for goodness’s sake, stop putting those tv’s
in the back of your car for the kids!).
You may live in the country, have a job that keeps you
outside all day, or be lucky enough to know someone with a farm or ranch where
you can go hang out whenever you’d like. But I know there are some men out
there whose only time outside is when they’re walking to and from their car
during the day. For these guys, make it a goal to spend at least an hour
outside every day. It doesn’t seem like much, but it can make a big
difference—remember, small and simple changes add up and can turn the switch to
the on position. Here are a few suggestions to get started:
·
Do
your workout outside. A study found that “compared with
exercising indoors, exercising in natural environments was associated with
greater feelings of revitalization and positive engagement, decreases in
tension, confusion, anger, and depression, and increased energy.”
·
Go
to a park to eat your lunch. If there’s no park near your workplace, at least
eat in the car with the windows down.
·
Go
for a nightly after dinner walk.
·
Do
chores like mowing the lawn and raking leaves yourself instead of hiring
someone to do it for you.
·
Read,
surf, or work on the patio or apartment balcony.
·
On
nice days, open your windows at home and in the car. On a cloudless 70-degree
day most of the windows in our apartment complex are closed and everyone is
driving around with the windows up in their cars. It makes me wonder sometimes
if the whole world has gone mad.
·
Go
on a picnic date.
·
Walk
to your errands.
·
Ride
your bike to work.
·
Find
a hobby or sport that requires you to be outside. There are dozens to choose
from: Skiing, skateboarding, surfing, running, gardening, geocaching, hunting,
fishing, and so on and so forth.
· Go camping. Talk about a no brainer. But you need to stop thinking about camping like it has to be a long, elaborately planned trip. Even one night helps. I know you’ll feel inertia—you’ll feel like getting everything together and driving to the campsite won’t be worth it. Even one night is worth it. It will refresh you.
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Purity
·
Religion
in the Home for Preschool: August
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
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