The Vampire Craze

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The Lady in the Tower

Alison Weir's new book on the fall of Anne Boleyn is definitely on my wish list. For one thing, I enjoy Alison Weir's perspectives on English history and, although Anne is not my favorite among Henry VIII's queens, her swift rise and catastrophic fall is more tragic than any classical Greek drama. Here is an excerpt from book blogger Marie Burton (whose review is worth reading in its entirety):

Some interesting facts that Weir touched upon were that Anne felt that Henry's dissolution of the monasteries had gone too far, and that Anne and Henry differed in their opinions about how far the reformation should go. Anne was not as zealous as Henry was, and did not condone the stripping of all of the funds that the Church had once relied on. I also found interesting that there were mentions of three ladies who were the ones to initially stir up the trouble with the accusations of adultery on Anne's part. There were many more courtiers who were involved in the setting of the snare, moreso than I had once believed. I was also intrigued as to the Catholic traditions that Anne observed before her death.

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Interview with Donna-Marie

It was a privilege for me to interview Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle on the occasion of the release of her new book about Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. She is the author of several books on motherhood, as well as being a columnist and a guest on both radio and television. The following is an excerpt from the press release for Mother Teresa and Me:

Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle is known to millions as the friendly face and soothing voice of Catholic motherhood. Her frequent appearances on radio and television, her many books, and her speaking engagements are the public face of a life devoted to seeking holiness in the context of a happy Catholic family.

She grew up in a in a large, close-knit Catholic family, married, and is raising five children, the youngest now entering college. Family life has always been her first vocation.

But in addition to her work as a mother, Donna-Marie has found opportunities to serve God both close to home and throughout the world. She has been a catechist for over twenty years at her parish and a Eucharistic minister to the sick, as well as a world-renowned journalist and author.

Donna-Marie’s decade-long friendship with Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta led to a long correspondence and meetings around the world. Following in the footsteps of Blessed Teresa, Donna-Marie became a lay Missionary of Charity and founded a branch of the lay Missionaries of Charity. Today, Donna-Marie is passionate about encouraging others to follow in the footsteps of her blessed friend, caring for the poorest of the poor.

It was Mother Teresa who constantly encouraged Donna-Marie to keep writing for mothers, women, and families, and she wrote the foreword to Donna-Marie’s book Prayerfully Expecting: A Nine Month Novena for Mothers-To-Be, as well as back-cover endorsements for her other books. Donna-Marie was also blessed with the spiritual guidance and friendship of the late world-renowned theologian, Rev. John A. Hardon S. J.

Remembering Jesus’ request in the Gospel of Matthew that we should care for Him in others, Donna-Marie founded the “Friends of Veronica,” an outreach to the seniors, the sick, and the lonely in nursing homes and hospitals. Their goal is to bring love and comfort in imitation of St. Veronica, who lovingly gave her veil to wipe Jesus’ forehead as He walked to Calvary. Donna-Marie has founded several other apostolates and organizations.

Donna-Marie was invited by Cardinal Rylko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity to participate in an International Congress for women at the Vatican in early 2008 to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Apostolic Letter Mulieris Dignitatem penned by Pope John Paul II.

Donna-Marie has been a frequent guest on EWTN television and discusses Catholic and family and parenting issues on a regular Ave Maria Radio segment called “Mom’s Corner” at “Catholic Connection” with radio host Teresa Tomeo.

She is also an EWTN TV host. Look for Donna-Marie in upcoming EWTN television segments called “Everyday Blessings for Catholic Moms.”

Here is my recent interview of Donna:

1.) Donna, as someone who was born and raised Catholic, can you describe some of the influences in your childhood which made an impression on you and helped you to persevere in the faith at a time when many of your generation were leaving the Church?

Thank you for this interview, Elena. To answer your question, I was very influenced by my mother and her mother (my grandmother) growing up. They kept me grounded in the faith. My other grandparents were deceased by the time I was born. Of course, my father helped with our formation too, but my mother spent all of her time with her eight children and made sure we stayed on the straight and narrow while my father worked endless hours to support us. My mother prayed the Rosary with us growing up and my grandmother had many sacred images around her home. She also loved Pope John Paul II so much and had his picture everywhere in her home. She was Polish, after all! So, every time we visited her, we saw all of those images, pictures, and religious items all around her home. I’m sure it had a powerful effect on me – it has certainly stayed with me.

2.)Your meeting with Blessed Mother Teresa, as you describe in your new book, was nothing short of providential. Can you talk a little about where you were in your spiritual journey at that time and how the meeting with one of the greatest saints of the 20th century came at just the right moment in your life?

God certainly had a plan. I couldn’t have planned any of it myself if I wanted to! But, as you say, the meeting certainly must have come at the exact time that God wanted it to. Of course, I never imagined anything was going to unfold from our first meeting. How could I? I merely took it all in and thanked God for it and then afterward, I continued on my way through the trenches of everyday motherhood and all it entailed. I have recounted how my life unfolded after meeting her in this book.

3.)One of the things that struck me when reading your book is the connection between the spiritual motherhood of a nun like Blessed Teresa and the biological motherhood of a Christian wife and mother, like yourself. Can you tell us how the spiritual guidance of the saint helped you to deepen your own understanding and commitment to your vocation?

That’s a good question. I did see similarities between our vocations. I do talk about that in my book and actually in some of my other books too. I like to weave Mother Teresa’s wisdom throughout my writings to help inspire others. Mother Teresa was never a biological mother, of course. However, she mothered the world, really. She became a mother to us all. Mother Teresa’s spiritual guidance helped me profoundly. I couldn’t even begin to express it. Her letters and conversations with me when we were together and over the phone too were always just what I needed to hear. I took all of the blessings straight to my heart and applied them to my life. I feel that our good Lord would like me to share the blessings with others and that’s what I try to do in my book: Mother Teresa and Me as well as in my other books.

4.) It has become obvious that motherhood has become denigrated in our society. I think that books like yours, not only the new one but your past works, are helping to rebuild the sense of dignity that once belonged to Christian mothers. Do you think that there is a connection with Mother Teresa's menial work with the poorest of the poor and the mundane tasks that are the lot of most mothers?

Yes, I agree and I speak about the denigration of motherhood quite a bit, but I always throw in a heap of encouragement for mothers today. I like to give them a pat on the back and lots of inspiration for their journey. Thank you for your kind words about my books and works. I hope and pray that they do help to rebuild the sense of dignity that was always an integral part of the vocation of motherhood. I am told by my readership that they are being fed by my books and that they are discovering the sublimity of their vocation of raising little saints to Heaven. I am heartened to see a resurgence of Catholic and Christian Moms who are taking their vocation seriously and devoting the time to raising their children properly and with love in their “domestic churches.” Yes, there is a connection with Mother Teresa’s “menial” work among the poor (and you’ll read examples of this in my book) and the “mundane” tasks of mothers. The secret to sanctity and to true happiness is in seeing that these little acts of loving service are huge in God’s eyes. Many of the saints, including St Therese of Lisieux have spoken about the little things. I write about it a great deal. It’s those little things when done lovingly and devotedly that actually open the gates of Heaven for us and others!

5.) Donna, you are a Lay Missionary of Charity. Could you explain what belonging to that confraternity entails and how it enhances your vocation as a wife and mother?

Yes, sure I will. Being a Lay Missionary of Charity is not being part of a confraternity. It is being a part of a Religious Order. It’s like a Third Order. It’s a call to holiness in the lay life, just as any other Third Order is. But the charism of this lay Order is one of seeing Jesus in everyone we meet which is really what every Christian is called to do anyway. I’ll quote from my book here: “As a Lay Missionary of Charity, I lead a normal life as a lay Catholic person but with a specific mission and purpose according to private vows I have taken to live a life according to the charism of Blessed Mother Teresa. The lay Missionary of Charity Movement is deeply prayerful and imbued with the spirituality of Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity. The specific mission of a lay Missionary of Charity is for the salvation and sanctification of our families, for the movement, and for the poorest of the poor all over the world. The vocation of a lay Missionary of Charity is simply to express to others by word and example the influence of God’s love, peace, and joy in our lives. This is accomplished throughout our daily lives and within encounters with all we meet. We are mindful of Blessed Mother Teresa’s words: ‘Love begins at home, in our movement, and in our family.’ We follow Mother Teresa’s inspiration that “works of love are works of peace” and that small things done with great love are very pleasing to Our Lord. Mother Teresa stressed that we should ‘be only all for Jesus through Mary. Let us be pure and humble like Mary, and we are sure to be holy like Jesus.’” To answer your question regarding how being a lay Missionary of Charity enhances my vocation as a wife and mother, it’s the understanding of the call to holiness and the awareness that God is sanctifying my vocation as I give it all to Him. Of course, any prayerful person can achieve sanctification in their family, by God’s grace without being a member of a Third Order or a Lay Missionary of Charity. However, being a part of an Order has the benefit of graces attached to it, especially from the founder’s intercession, in this case.

6) You have had the rare privilege of corresponding with a living saint, living in your lifetime, that is. Donna, can you discuss the reality of being with a saint, and becoming close to a saint, as compared to the false view of saints that many people have? I sense that some Catholics regard saints, especially saintly nuns, as being unapproachable and remote. Please tell us how this is not at all true!

Certainly, Mother Teresa was a very real person with her feet planted firmly on the ground. She was knowledgeable about matters going on around her in the culture and the world. She had seen everything – from all kinds of devastating poverty and disease in Calcutta and many parts of the world to the lack of love and the breakdown of the family in the western world. She didn’t shirk or run from any of it – she faced it square on - not with her head up in the clouds – and she dealt with it with God’s love and mercy to each person she came into contact with. She was extremely approachable, immanently real. She was my friend, mentor and “mother!” Saints were real people like you and me – all differing personalities and each possessing unique gifts. What makes them saintly is their desire to follow the will of God completely with full surrender. That’s what I saw in Mother Teresa, her full surrender to God’s holy will in her life. She wanted to satiate His thirst for souls. She has told us that we are all called to holiness and that “it is not a luxury for a few, but a duty for us all.” In all of our walks of life, we are called to be saints too. That’s what I try to get across in my book: Mother Teresa and Me.

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A Review by Julianne Douglas

Historical fiction writer Julianne Douglas, who earned her doctorate in French literature from Princeton University, has a penetrating review of The Night's Dark Shade. Here is an excerpt of Julianne's review:

Elena Maria Vidal's new novel, The Night's Dark Shade: A Novel of the Cathars (Mayapple Books, 2009) dramatizes the conflict between the Good Christians (otherwise known as the Albigensians or Cathars) and the Roman Catholic Church that roiled southern France throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Raphaëlle de Miramande, a young heiress whose father and fiancé both die in the crusade against the Cathars, travels to the château de Mirambel to wed her cousin, Raymond de Tourmalet. Raphaëlle discovers only after she arrives that her intended and his family are themselves Good Christians--in fact, Raymond's mother, Esclarmonde, is a Perfecta, an ascetic spiritual leader who instructs the faithful and leads the sect's rituals. In accordance with Cathar beliefs (which considered material reality evil and procreation undesirable because it trapped spirits in physical bodies), the situation at Mirambel is irregular, to say the least. Esclarmonde, given over to fasts and conquering her body, shuns her husband, who lives in an open physical relationship with a serving woman; Esclarmonde's son, Raymond, is a sexual deviant given to violent outbursts and bullying; tenants cohabitate without the blessing of marriage and rid themselves of unwanted children both before and after birth. Horrified by what she witnesses and unwilling to repudiate her Catholic faith, Raphaëlle refuses to marry Raymond, forcing her uncle, who desires to gain control of her lands, to imprison her until she agrees to wed his son.

Romantic feelings for Martin de Revel-Saissac, a knight of St. John pledged to celibacy but renowned for breaking hearts, complicate Raphaëlle's plight. Rescued for a time from her uncle's castle, Raphaëlle weds a different man, but her penchant for Martin prevents her from making a sincere effort to fulfill her marriage vows. Raphaëlle struggles with reconciling the notion of romantic love, promoted by the troubadours, with the self-giving and faithfulness that undergird a sacramental marriage. Like the Cathars, whose efforts to transcend the body reduced sexual relations to physical functions devoid of unifying sacredness, Raphaëlle's obsession with the unattainable Martin endangers her emotional connection with her husband and threatens to destroy the marriage she has vowed to uphold....(Read entire article)

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Wagner in Venice

R. J. Stove tells of the influence Venice had on Wagner, saying:

Venice's own beauty and mystery jolted Wagner into genuine reportage, so different from the turbid philosophising that elsewhere dominated his prose. Late in life he casually admitted to Saint-Saëns - first a devotee, afterwards a passionate opponent - that when he re-read his early theoretical writings: "I find I no longer understand them."

At first Wagner's Venetian residence had severely practical reasons. Harassed by Saxony's government, after the abortive Dresden uprising into which he had thrown himself with characteristically rampageous enthusiasm, he needed a bolt-hole beyond the writ of the policeman, the debt collector, or the jealous husband (this last category having made life awkward in Zürich).

Yet La Serenissima grew on him, as it grows eventually on everyone. While he only stayed there a year before returning to Paris in 1859 - there to superintend Tannhäuser's French premiere - he retained fond memories of existence among the canals. So when, in 1882 after Parsifal's completion, angina pectoris forced the 69-year-old Wagner to a comparatively tranquil refuge, there could only be one choice: Venice it was.

"Riccardo Wagner" (for thus journalists Italianized his name) became something of a local mascot, in a city all too conscious that creative musical prestige had largely abandoned it since Vivaldi and Albinoni had disappeared from the scene more than a century earlier.

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Messenger

Elizabeth Kathryn Gerold-Miller reviews Jeni Stepanek's inspiring and heartrending biography of her son, Mattie Stepanek. In the words of Mrs. Gerold-Miller:

Mattie J.T. Stepanek... happened to suffer from a rare disorder that later came to be known as Dysautonomic Mitochondrial Myopathy. His three siblings all died by the age of four of the same disorder, and his mother was diagnosed with the adult onset form after having given birth to them. They are the only five people ever diagnosed with this particular form of the disorder.

Told from the first person, Jeni is one of the main characters of the book, as the mother who cared for her son and supported his efforts, yet Mattie is the focus. She sees him as a gift from God and is thankful for the time she was able to share with him and her other children on this earth.

From the beginning you know that he is going to die at the age of thirteen, and the suspense of the reader in seeing how he is going to live his life in between crises, and when he is going to die, is a faint echo of what you know Jeni and Mattie lived through in real life time. Jeni is very descriptive of all that they went through, but the book is much larger than that....

The book is profoundly pro-life. The doctors all begged her to get an abortion; she would not. They told her to put Mattie in an institution; she chose to be his mother. She chose to let him live his life as much as he could, and went to great lengths to allow him to see his vision through. When it came to the end of his life, she allowed him the dignity to take part in the decisions about heroic life-saving measures. She and others made sure that all of his wishes were carried out when he was buried. They honored his life through continuing to carry on his message to the world.

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White Slavery

I am presently reading The Hemingses of Monticello by Annette Gordon-Reed so I found this article to be of interest (Via Joshua Snyder). Gordon-Reed's book is rich in historical detail; I am enjoying it, although by attributing slavery to the "doctrine of white supremacy" the impression is given that the only slavery in the world existed in North America, specifically in the United States, where whites enslaved Africans. However, it must be pointed out that over the course of several centuries the Ottomans enslaved millions of white Europeans. As is demonstrated in a book review of Frederick Quinn's The Sum of All Heresies:

The image of the Turks as a mortal threat to Europe was enhanced not just by the Ottoman conquest but also by their role as a maritime power and even more so by their piracy. Quinn draws the reader's attention to a little-known aspect of the emerging slave trade. It is accepted almost as an axiom that slaves in modern Europe were all non-European. But in the early modern era there were just as many European slaves - victims of Mediterranean pirates - in the hands of Muslims as there were blacks, if not more.

In fact, there were several million European slaves. It is not surprising then that the image of European slaves was firmly imbedded in the European image of the Muslim Orient. It became a popular subject of artwork. One such piece, presented in this book, represents the Ottoman Turks on horseback and a European couple, a man and woman, being dragged by a rope as powerless slaves.

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An Interview

Author Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle recently interviewed me about my new novel, The Night's Dark Shade. The following is an excerpt:

Donna-Marie: Elena, thank you for taking the time out to do this interview with me. Your book looks great! I can’t wait to find some time to sit down and read it. I’m sure it will be fascinating, based on the reviews I’ve seen and the pages I’ve scanned through already. Elena, you received a Master’s Degree in European History. When did you begin to become interested in the subject?

Elena: I was interested in European History, especially the Medieval Era, from the time I was a small child. I have loved St. Joan of Arc from as long as I can remember. Knights, ladies, castles, and chivalry always captivated me as well. I read everything about the Middle Ages I could get my hands on.

I first heard about the Cathars in a high school religion class. In college I studied them a bit more. Their strangeness captivated me in that I could see many of the same aberrations which characterized the Cathar lifestyle happening around me. It was the early eighties, and the radical feminist movement was in full swing....In school and even at home, I often felt like my heroine Raphaëlle does in the story, the only practicing Catholic surrounded by Cathars, and Cathar sympathizers. In graduate school, I decided to pursue the topic further, and did a paper on the Albigensian Crusade. Providentially, I saved the paper, with my notes and bibliography, which helped me get a good start into the novel.

Donna:Marie: Ah, good thing you saved the paper! Elena, your first two novels were about the French Revolution. Why have you now written about Medieval France and the Albigensian Crusade?

Elena: Although The Night’s Dark Shade takes place several centuries before Trianon and Madame Royale, all three books deal with the theme of revolution and its destructive effects. Heresy, which figures prominently in the new book, is a form of revolution, of spiritual revolution. The Cathar heresy was a form of the gnostic, Manichean belief system, which has surfaced again and again throughout history, often mixing with Christian beliefs and causing no end of mischief.

Donna-Marie: Who exactly were the Cathars and what did they believe in?

Elena: The Cathars were essentially a gnostic sect, who insisted upon calling themselves the “Good Christians,” adopting a lot of Christian terminology. They believed that there were two gods, one good and one bad. They believed that the evil god had created the entire material world, and therefore to them all matter was evil. The Good God, Whom they did not hold to be omnipotent, created only the spiritual world. The Cathars denied most of the major tenets of the Creed, including the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. They shunned the sign of the cross, and rejected the Old Testament. They rejected baptism by water and only believed in a “baptism of light.” They denied the Eucharist, the Real Presence, and all the sacraments, holding matrimony to be an abomination because it regularized the sexual act, leading to the procreation of children. Cohabitation as well as homosexuality were considered preferable to marriage. They practiced suicide in a ritual known as the endura, in which they would starve themselves to death. They also thought that there was nothing wrong with abortion and contraception.

Donna-Marie: It sounds like the Cathars had a great deal in common with many of our contemporaries.

Elena: Yes, their times are a distant reflection of our own.

Donna-Marie: Elena, it says on the back cover of your new novel that you were inspired to write the book after a pilgrimage to Lourdes.

Elena: Yes, in the summer of 1994 I made a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, seeking guidance from the Blessed Mother. As I have written on my blog, I was intrigued by the castle there. I took a tour of the castle and then went to the town library and read about it. I discovered that it had been a Cathar stronghold during the Middle Ages. A story began to take shape in my mind. However, I did not begin writing it down until the winter of 2000-20001, after the publication of Trianon and Madame Royale. After eight more years of writing, research, and rewriting, it all came together at last. I am pleased that the novel is finally published and being read and enjoyed.

Donna-Marie: Yes, I noticed The Night’s Dark Shade has been getting some very positive reviews.

Elena: Well, the book has something for everybody— romance, history, war, and theological discussion. It is suitable for teenagers to read and yet has an underlying complexity so that adults will be able to sink their teeth into it. There are many issues which the characters must face which we must deal with today. It is a book for now.

Donna-Marie: Thank you, Elena, for sharing your literary journey with us. May God bless your work so that many hearts will be moved even as they are caught up in your fine story-telling. One last question - where can your book be purchased?

Elena: The book will be on Amazon soon, but in the meantime it can be purchased from Lulu.com: here. And through my blog, on the sidebar: here.

Donna-Marie: Thanks again, Elena! I’m looking forward to reading your book!

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Secret Places, Hidden Sanctuaries

The American Spectator has a review of the new book by Stephen Klimczuk and Gerald Warner which, while exposing the nonsense of Dan Brown, explores authentic mysteries of history. To quote:

Dan Brown's latest fairy tale (def., a fictional story that may feature folkloric characters) audaciously claims, "That the true Ancient Mystery is in fact the realization that people are not God's subjects, but possess the capability to be gods themselves. Once they realize this fact, they will open the gateway to a magnificent future."

Compare and contrast that sentiment with the informed and humble analysis of the brilliant new tome, Secret Places, Hidden Sanctuaries. It forthrightly and in careful candor traces the origin of basic human instincts to hide away in obscurity, to seek privacy, to experience sanctuary with things divine, and to congregate in exclusive conclaves from which others are "excluded." There is no pretense, no fiction here. This book instead debunks myths like Brown's, and is based on historical fact, rather than inflated lies made up to sell extravagant novels or Hollywood blockbuster movie rights.

Never before have readers been taken, literally taken by the hand, on a guided tour (Führung, in German) of such behavior, past and present. Rarely, has such light been cast on such an astonishing variety of places and instances of worship, conspiracy, defense, and in the case of Nazi atrocity -- shocking mass murders.

The book is quite eclectic, with a wide range of subjects ranging from the (in)famous Knights Templar of crusading fame to California's modern Esalen Institute debaucheries. From the gothic nightmare of Himmler's Wewelsburg Nazi SS castle to numerous jeweled islands of mystery and various holies of holies. It details the (very) private banks as well as various university secret societies, with fondness for Yale's Skull and Bones, that gets, well most of it, right.

The book ends with one of my own favorite subjects: "clubbable" jolly good fellowships -- London's gentlemen's clubs...and other such sanctuaries of tradition. The best American and European private clubs are described and even rated in scrutinized detail. The authors have a flair for good fable retelling and venerable (local) custom.

Carrie Gressman of Zenit recently interviewed both authors. According to Mr. Klimczuk:

Having watched the explosion of interest worldwide in gnosticism, "alternative history," secret societies, the occult, Templar myths, conspiracy theories, government cover-ups, UFOs and the like, we felt there was an urgent need for someone to step forward and set the record straight across a wide spectrum of subjects that are actually fundamentally related on some level.

What started gradually some two decades ago with the New Age movement and such precursors to Dan Brown's books as "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" (with its bogus claims of "proof" that Christ married and left descendants) has since become a global multi-billion dollar industry and a substitute for religion for tens, if not hundreds, of millions of people.

We thought that the right kind of compendium could provide a robust and skeptical debunking of esoteric nonsense, while highlighting potentially authentic mysteries of genuine interest -- on the principle that truth is actually more interesting, satisfying, and even entertaining than falsehood.

According to one poll, some 6 million people in Britain believe that Dan Brown's books are true. This seems to be a particularly fertile time for quacks, frauds and false prophets.

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