Hello there, and a very happy feast of St. Romuald, Abbot! đ
In 976, Sergius, a nobleman of Ravenna, quarreled with a relative about an estate and slew him in a duel. His son Romuald, horrified at his father’s crime, entered the Benedictine monastery at Classe, to do a forty days’ penance for him. This penance ended in his own vocation to religion.
Now for the confession: Monday, I had written up several “takes” for my 7 Rambling Monday Takes series . . . and I didn’t have time to finish the post. What woe.
However, according to a very wise suggestion from a very wise person, I’m simply going to make this a Rambling Wednesday post and proceed towards completing my already quite rambling draft of things!
Butler’s Lives of the Saints arrived…
It came in the mail last Friday, and how I already love it! It’s a used edition, and accordingly already seems so venerable, with crackly pages and the quintessential “book smell.”
Oh. I should stop inhaling it and get back to writing this. Apologies.
A peek at the inside:
So far since its arrival, each morning (or afternoon) I’ve been treated to wonderful meditations on “The Purification, Commonly Called Candlemas Day;” “St. Blaise;” “St. Jane Valois;” “St. Agatha” and “The Martyrs of Japan;” “St. Dorothy;” and, today, “St. Romuald” They are informative, succinct, illuminating, and challenging–in that they call for heroic virtue.
It reminds me of Lena’s post, from last year. Allow me to quote an excerpt:
When I heard people say that biographers of the saints shouldnât make them seem so perfect, should show all their faults so people wonât feel discouraged, I canât help but to disagree. In this fallen, pride-inflated world, the last thing we need is to feel more comfortable about ourselves and to try to belittle the glorious achievements of those great souls who truly have fought the good fight and finished the race, who suffered so much, prayed so faithfully, toiled so vigorously to rid themselves of vice, who were unafraid to sacrifice themselves to the heights of heroic virtue. No, our problem is that we are far too comfortable with the way we are; we are too soft with ourselves, too used to our sins, too prideful in our blindness, that even supposing that someone could (and, hmm, that maybe we should) be as holy on earth as the Saints truly were wounds our pride, challenges our softness, makes us uncomfortable; and we donât like it.
Monday, I read of the Holy Martyrs of Japan. It is a vast understatement to say how sobering it is to compare their love of God with my daily selfishness and pettiness.
Peter, a Christian child six years old, was awakened early and told that he was to be beheaded, along with his father. Strong in grace, he expressed his joy at the news, dressed himself in his gayest clothing, and took the hand of the soldier that was to lead him to death. The headless trunk of his father first met his view; calmly kneeling down, he prayed beside the corpse, and, loosening his collar, prepared his neck for the stroke. Moved by this touching scene, the executioner threw down his sabre and fled. None but a brutal slave could be found for the murderous task; with unskilled and trembling hand he hacked the child to pieces, who at last died without uttering a single cry.
The initial temptation might be to view this as pious legend rather than strict history: that seems to be the common thought pattern of modern man, anyway. But do the terms “pious legends” arise because men (by which I mean mankind, men and women, etc.) doubt the historicity of things . . . or, really, is it because men find so little strength and devotion in their own souls that can echo anything like small Peter’s joyful, saintly detachment from his own life?
It seems inconceivable that a child could know and endure with such joy . . . but really, I know the most credible reason for this “inconceivableness” is that I haven’t yet exercised my soul to the extent of Peter’s virtues. I have only a shadow of his pure and ardent love of Christ. May small St. Peter intercede for my salvation and greet me one day in Heaven!
Along the same lines, Butler frankly asks at the closure of that day’s meditation:
If mere children face torture and death with joy for Christ, can we begrudge the slight penance He asks us to bear?
And this spurs me on to another train of thought . . .
Uncomfortable things…
Recently, I made a resolution to listen to a traditional homily once a day, and I’ve been starting at Sensus Traditionis with the wonderful Fr. Chad Ripperger. (Remember, these are Penanceware! đ ) Monday morning, I started at the very top of the list, with his homily on movies.
I wish that it had been a conference instead of a homily so that Fr. Ripperger could have had the opportunity to go into more depth on the subject and possibly answer questions (especially if those questions resembled my questions, naturally đ ). It’s eight minutes long and vital food for thought . . . granted, it’s uncomfortable thought.
Essentially, he challenged his listeners to very carefully consider the films they view, and explained the difference between “simulated sin” (such as murder in a film) and “real sin” (that which the actors commit while portraying their roles–sins of impurity, profanity, blasphemy, vulgarity, etc.). He explains that watching a movie in which actors are committing real sins in their roles is an act of cooperation with those sins, and is accordingly sinful. When even one real sin is committed in a movie by an actor, the movie, as a whole, can no longer be considered morally good (although it may very well be artistically good).
I know there are a lot of families like mine who have long been accustomed to skipping over inappropriate scenes and muting over profanity and blasphemy (even though small things can still leak through). I wish Fr. Ripperger had mentioned these kinds of practices in his homily, because I would reflexively think (in my uninformed, non-priestly and fallible mind) that an act of combatance such as muting or skipping, by definition, isn’t an act of cooperation in the sin . . . although the choice is still made from the beginning to watch a film in which these things occur. I’m honestly not sure how this plays a part in it. Film is such a different medium than books . . .
But either way the scales fall, it is an uncomfortable talk. It is so very easy for the conscience to become dulled and desensitized and accepting of that which is wrong, or at least that which is endangering. The talk brought me out of my comfort zone, and reminded me that there is so much to discern and to choose (often choose against) on the path of heroic virtue. Simple doesn’t mean easy. Sainthood doesn’t mean easy. I would definitely like more enlightenment on the subject, but in the meantime, I pray my mind and heart have been jarred towards a better practice of heroic virtue.
Homeschooling…
I’ve been continuing my daily reading of We and Our Children; Your School of Love; Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum; Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child.
This morning was particularly dreary and drizzly, and I was awake for awhile before other footsteps became audible, so after my morning prayers I went ahead and plunged in early with sections of We and Our Children and Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum. It was the latter that really began to set my wheels spinning. Mrs. Berquist makes so many good points, and yet like any book, I suppose, there are things that you mentally agree with, things you mentally supplement, and things you mentally disagree with. The more I read of this book, and the more my mind was prattling away its own agreements and disagreements, the more I realized I needed to take some time and set down my thoughts, beliefs and hopes for my future homeschool, as they are now.
3,000 words and an hour or two later . . . you get the idea.
It’s rather serious and scholastic in tone, I guess, and it’s something I could keep private . . . but at the same time, I feel it might be worth sharing for whomever would be interested in reading yet more of the frenetic workings of my mind đ
So I’ll probably put up a mini-series and add to it whenever I write new parts to this document currently titled, “Homeschool Curriculum.” At the very least, it might make me smile, years down the road, when I’m actually in the thick of things. We shall see . . .
Ponderings…
Mom and I spent Monday afternoon together, shopping (at the Dollar Tree: where else?) and assembling table decorations for an upcoming Mardi Gras dance at our parish . . . above is a photograph of the finished result đ It was a fun way to spend time together!
Tutoring went well yesterday; these girls are all so varied and vibrant in their personalities! It often feels like I am on a race to keep up with them đ But a beautiful moment occurred when we were about to pray the Angelus, and one sweet girl said, “I’m going to kneel,” and I said, “Great idea! Let’s all kneel!” and everyone knelt for the entire Angelus. Also, two of my dear girls picked me wildflowers at lunchtime and gave me two big hugs; in fact, they were the exact same wildflowers that grew in the front yard of my childhood home. Instant memories! I brought them home in my lunchbox and only threw them away once they were thoroughly wilted đ Finally, I got to spend a lovely forty-five minutes or so with one girl’s grandmother during a break in my class, talking up a storm about life and love and faith, exchanging pictures of her grandchildren and of The Dash and me, and just having a glorious time đ
Lent is approaching quickly, and I think my holy Guardian Angel (whose help I’ve been trying to be more solicitous of recently) has been helping me (and the other guardian angels, the rest of my family) to seize on to the Septuagesima period as a time to begin implementing the sacrifices and holy habits we hope to practice in full during Lent. Next year, I hope to even be more purposeful about my gradual spiritual entrance into Lent by taking full advantage of Septuagesima!
Indulgenced prayers and aspirations! I feel like I am just waking up to their worth! So each morning and before bed, I am attempting to go through the section of them in The Catholic Girls’ Guide and prayerfully recite them. After twenty-one years, I know I have so much to make up for personally; and also, to give all indulgences to Our Lady through Total Consecration for her to use as she wishes is a wonderful thing. Here is a good source of indulgenced prayers and aspirations from Fish Eaters (where else?).
I’ve added two new virtue prints on Benedic; feel free to check them out! And I still need to update my “Daily Dedications” section with the remaining dedications for the week . . . hopefully I will have time soon đ
And finally, let’s continue to pray for Baby Isaac, who is still experiencing ups and downs. Let’s storm heaven for his complete healing!
Her Delightful Life 
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