The Sexual Revolution: Surveying the Damage

It's not a pretty picture. To quote:

The Pill, far from reducing the numbers of  unwanted pregnancies, actually led to more. When women neglected to take the Pill, there  seemed all the more reason to use abortion as a form of birth  control. Despite the fact that, in the wake of the  Aids crisis, people were urged to use condoms and to indulge in safe-sex, the  message did not appear to get through. In the past few years, sexually transmitted  diseases among young people have hugely increased, with more and more young  people contracting chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis and other diseases, many of  them unaware they were infected until after they had been sexually active with a  number of partners.

The divorce statistics tell another miserable  story. About one third of marriages in Britain end in divorce. And because many  couples do not marry at all before splitting up, the number of broken homes is  even greater. This time of year is when the painfulness of  family break-up is felt most acutely. January 3 has been nicknamed ‘divorce day’  by lawyers. In a moving article in the Mail recently, Lowri Turner, a  twice-divorced mother of three children, wrote about the pain of waking up on  Christmas morning without her children. She looks at the presents under the  tree, with no children to open them, and thinks: ‘This isn’t the way things are  supposed to be.’

Every parent who has been through the often  self-inflicted hell of divorce will know what she means. So will the thousands of children this  Christmas who spent the day with only one parent — and often with that parent’s  new ‘partner’ whom they hate. I hold up my hands. I have been divorced.  Although I was labelled a Young Fogey in my youth, I imbibed all the  liberationist sexual mores of the Sixties as far as sexual morality was  concerned.

I made myself and dozens of people extremely  unhappy — including, of course, my children and other people’s children. I am  absolutely certain that my parents, by contrast, who married in 1939 and stayed  together for more than 40 years until my father died, never strayed from the  marriage bed. There were long periods when they found  marriage extremely tough, but having lived through years of aching  irritation  and frustration, they grew to be Darby and Joan, deeply  dependent upon one  another in old age, and in an imperfect but  recognisable way, an object lesson  in the meaning of the word ‘love’. (Read entire post.)

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Act of Reparation

It is Shrove Tuesday, a day of reparation to the Holy Face of Jesus. Fr. Mark says:

An integral part of our life at Silverstream Priory is the Act of Reparation (amende honorable) that we make every day after Holy Mass.

The original text, that is the source of the prayer we use today, dates back to those days of the thirteenth century when the Cathars and Albigensians were ravaging the south of France with their virulent heresies. Raymond of Toulouse, a Cathar, assassinated his brother Baudouin, who held fast to the Catholic faith. Baudouin had a daughter, Jeanne, who, to make reparation for her uncle's homicidal crimes, enclosed herself in a little house built against the wall of the Cathedral of Saint-Étienne; there she lived as a recluse. Peering through the hagioscope (a little window giving a view of the altar) of her cell, Jeanne adored the Most Holy Sacrament. Jeanne of Toulouse would be one of the first souls to practice day and night adoration of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar in a spirit of reparation. When Jeanne died, the Act of Reparation that she had written on parchment was placed in her hand and buried with her. Each time her body was exhumed, the parchment of the Act of Reparation was seen to be intact in her hand. (Read entire post.)

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The Astrolabe and the Cosmic Symphony

From Ad Altare Dei:

First, the astrolabe, being an instrument that captures the movement of the sun and stars, provides for the user a window into the very operation of the cosmos as well as (and this is most important) the user's proper place in the cosmic order.  This is to say that it orients the user toward something bigger without giving the user the illusion of domination or control.  Sounds lofty, doesn't it? We're not used to thinking of technology in that way today.  Modern technology tends not to have the same focus or intent and also can create unhealthy dependencies (on electricity, oil, consumption of natural resources, etc...) that further separate us from the function of the natural world in which we live.

Second, the astrolabe is an instrument that has been used devoutly and faithfully for centuries, transcending cultural and religious boundaries. It has allowed different cultures and religious groups, including Jews, Muslims, and Christians, to share practical knowledge with one another.

Finally, the astrolabe is, quite simply, a stunningly beautiful work of art.  Each culture and maker has sought to create these instruments with deep precision and beauty, reflecting a profound respect for the instrument and what it does. (Read entire post.)

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My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints

Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. ~Apocalypse 13:10

My Peace I Give You by Dawn Eden is a much-needed spiritual resource for those recovering from any type of physical or emotional suffering brought on by the lust, crassness or cruelty of others. It took a long time to read because I had to stop and take time to ponder and absorb, reading several parts of it over again. Not only is Dawn's book well-written but every contention is backed up by solid references. With modesty and restraint, she confronts a topic uncomfortable to many. The misuse of the gift of life-giving sexuality has scourged multiple lives and institutions, not the least of which is our Holy Catholic Church. Too often amid the scandals, the wounded do not receive the treatment which they need in order to heal. This book, coming from the long and painful recovery of a survivor of abuse, will be a grace for many who are hurting from similar wounds. Hopefully, it will inspire all who read it to take action to insure a safer world for the innocent.

While My Peace I Give You is written specifically for those who have experienced sexual abuse, it brought home to me that in this day and age there are few of us who have not experienced some form of assault upon our purity, at least psychologically. The public exultation of vice surrounds us with greater impunity than at any other time since the fall of the Roman Empire. It is impossible to go shopping or watch the news without hearing or seeing the effluvia of the intimate lives of others. In church, in school, in gatherings of friends or family, too often the natural barriers of modesty are breached by topics which are best left in the private realm. For instance, I think natural family planning is wonderful but must children hear the mechanics of it discussed in detail during Mass? Then there are the impure conversations to which the young are constantly subjected in many schools. It is desensitizing and can lead to a callous, utilitarian attitude towards male and female interactions, in which teenagers regard each other as playthings. The problem of emotional and physical sexual intrusion does not recognize the boundaries of liberal or conservative, rich or poor; it has totally infiltrated our entire society. A restoration of morals and self-control would help immensely, of course. In the meantime there must be a new recognition of propriety along with respect for the sensibilities and private sphere of others. It is not a matter of prudery but a matter refraining from invasive talk which might disturb or unsettle those whose inner struggles we cannot guess.

As for actual physical assault, Dawn uses episodes from the lives of various saints to show that such outrages are sadly nothing new. The story of the patroness of abuse victims, Blessed Laura Vicuña, is told. Blessed Laura was a young girl whose mother's live-in boyfriend made continual sexual advances upon her. How many weak-willed women today place their children in similar dangerous situations? Although the local nuns tried to protect Laura, the man's predatory obsession eventually led to her death. This and other accounts of saints' lives show us that sexual obsession is a demon that once let loose seeks only to devour and destroy.

The book offers the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as one of the paths of healing for those who are wounded by abuse. There is a discussion of the magnificent stained-glass windows in the Sacred Heart Chapel at Georgetown University, showing how sacred art can heal as well as inspire. The Sacred Heart devotion is an abyss of spiritual riches; the book helped me to deepen my understanding of it. To quote Dawn:

 Seeing St. John at Jesus' side, I imagine I am witnessing the moment in John's gospel when the Lord urged us to make the love of his Heart our own: 'I give you a new commandment: love one another' (John 13:34 NAB). And in that love he offers us the greatest gift of all: 'Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid' (John 14:27 NAB).

The verse takes me back to the time when, as a child, I first took a curious look at the gospels. I remember how the phrase jumped out at me: 'Not as the world gives.' Someone understands, I thought. Someone understands that there is something very wrong with how the world gives peace. The world gives peace only to take it away unexpectedly at any moment. What I longed for was true peace, a living peace­­­­­−a peace I could enjoy forever. (p.27)

As I tend to read more than one book at a time, I read My Peace I Give You in conjunction with Stieg Larsson's fictional Millennium Trilogy and Robert K. Massie's biography of Catherine the Great, all of which deal with the abuse of women on some level. Only Dawn's book offers the key to the exit door from the vicious cycle of abasement and promiscuity. While dealing with the physical and psychological repercussions which can be suffered by those who have experienced trauma, My Peace I Give You takes into account the crucial spiritual aspects of the recovery and healing process, aspects which tend to be ignored in our materialistic culture. Practical and ethereal, suitable for both prayer and study, it is the kind of book I want to hand out to everyone I know.

(More on Blessed Laura, HERE.)

St. Joan in prison by Howard Pyle

 (*NOTE: This book was sent to me by the author's representative in exchange for my honest opinion.)  

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War in Heaven

Fr. Angelo on the strife that exists between Catholics.

Here is the problem.  We cannot pretend we always agree.  We cannot perpetuate the naive optimism and malaise of the last fifty years.  Decisive action is a good thing and we cannot stand around wringing our hands because at every turn someone is offended.  But that does not mean that we are without standards, or that we will only insist that they be applied to those with whom we disagree.  For example, those in the blogosphere could be a great deal more civil, beginning with me.  But no one should presume to enter into the controversies of the day and pride themselves as a kind of new crusader and then be thinned-skinned about disagreement.  In particular, I think this applies to those who are inclined to defend their favorite internet personality, no matter what their hero says or does.

But if it is true that in the midst of our conflict with principalities and powers we find ourselves in scandalous conflicts with those of our own household, then we should remember that as Catholics we have a special appeal to unity.  That appeal comes from the person who sits in the Chair of Peter.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a police state. On a great many of topics there will always be a legitimate back and forth.  But the principle of unity that rises above opinion and controversy, taste, background and temperament is the teaching of Peter. (Read entire post.)

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Ladies with Harps

A delightful collection.

Marie-Antoinette in her dressing gown having a harp lesson in her bedchamber.

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"Left-Footers"

I had never heard this expression until I heard it on Downton Abbey. First Things quotes Hugh Cheape of the National Museums of Scotland:

The saying turns on a traditional distinction between left- and right-handed spades in Irish agriculture. It has been used as a figure of speech and often, sadly, as a term of abuse to distinguish Protestants from Catholics: ‘He digs with the wrong foot.’

Most types of digging spade in Britain and Ireland have foot-rests at the top of their blades; two-sided spades have foot-rests on each side of the shaft and socket, while an older style of one-sided spade had only one. Two-sided spades may well have been introduced by the Protestant ‘planters’ in the sixteenth century. By the early nineteenth century specialised spade and shovel mills in the north of Ireland were producing vast numbers of two-sided spades which came to be universally used in Ulster and strongly identified with the province. One-sided spades with narrow blades and a foot-rest cut out of the side of the relatively larger wooden shaft continued in use in the south and west.
The rural population of Gaelic Ireland retained the Catholic faith and tended also to retain the one-sided spade and ‘dig with the wrong foot’. In fact, the two-sided spade of Ulster was generally used with the left foot whereas the one-sided spade tended to be used with the right foot. Instinctively, the ‘wrong foot’ of the Catholics has come to be thought of as the left foot. The figure of speech has now been extended to kicking with the wrong foot. (Read entire post.)

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When Women Fight

Syndicated columnist Diana West reflects upon the real war on women.

It (civilization) has been struggling there for decades, as social engineers and radical feminists – all heirs to Marx – have been cutting away at elemental human instinct, social grace, language and thought itself. This overhaul of manners and mores, the family structure and marriage – even private aspects of the relationship between men and women – has been successful to a point where the cultural argument against women in combat (women in the military being a lost cause) is rarely voiced, not even on the right. (I watched Fox News on women-in-combat announcement day, listening in vain for just one culture warrior.)

We are left to make only the utilitarian arguments – body strength and speed, unit cohesion, even urinary tract infections and other hazards that front-line deployment pose to females. These are compellingly logical points, but they are unlikely to reverse an ideological juggernaut. When the secretary of defense says putting women in combat is about “making our military … and America stronger” and no one says he’s lying to further a Marxian ideal via social engineering, the cultural argument is lost, and the culture it comes from is bound and gagged, hostage to what we know as “political correctness.”

I still see threads of the cultural argument in emails and some blog responses to the Pentagon’s latest whack at creating “gender neutrality.” It erupts like a reflex against the conditioning to deny differences defined, at their essence, by muscle mass and womb. Such conditioning erodes the male protective instinct – which, surely, is what war is supposed to arise from – and the female nurturing instinct, which surely is what a civilization depends on.

No more. Women with wombs and without manly muscle mass now count as Pentagon-approved “warriors,” modern-day knights in Kevlar, soon to be humping 80-pound packs over mountain and desert.

 (Read entire article.)

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Protecting Our Daughters

How the culture of porn dehumanizes our girls and turns them into playthings.

Scary and hugely pressurising, would be Steve Biddulph’s answer. In his timely new book, Raising Girls, Biddulph says that about five years ago (around the time that sexting and camera-phones were taking off) psychologists began to notice a marked and sudden plunge in girls’ mental health. The average teenage female was “stressed and depressed in a way never seen before”. Girls were growing up too fast, much faster than their mothers had. Our 18 is their 14, our 14 is their 10.

Mainstream media has made porn-inspired sex seem compulsory for girls at ever younger ages. “So what?” says the liberal parent who doesn’t think it’s cool to challenge their child’s lifestyle choices, and may secretly envy them. Biddulph has harsh words for these hands-off mummies and daddies: “Having your daughter as a friend – so much easier than actually raising her,” he mocks. (Read entire article.)

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