Liturgical Living: Hallowmas

Nov. 5, Feast of Sts. Zechariah and Elizabeth, parents of St. John the Baptist.

We had a good Hallowmas.  On Thursday, we feasted and went in disguise in the dark, meeting other strange but friendly folk along the way.  We knocked on doors, said magic words, and were greeted with warm smiles (as well as pumpkin grins) and plenty of sweets.  We visited with dear ones, then came home late to set up an altar for the dead--not to worship or fear, but to pray for and offer penance--with a carved pumpkin to light and welcome them, much as they had for us earlier that night; food and drink to show hospitality; and the saints to guide them home.  We lit the candle for our icons and slept safe and sound, and God let pass over us all the evil things, as we knew He would.

Oh, what did we disguise ourselves as, you ask?  I'm glad you did!

Pointy hat not pictured.

Yes, yes.  Get it out of your system.

Seriously, though?  It never gets old.

Very appropriate for the Harry Potter book club, especially Jenna's introductory post this week.

Anyway, to get the full effect of our night out and about, see the group pics:

Despite the late night, we rose again early next morning for Mass and the Feast of All Saints.  I just love this holy day.  It's only fitting that it surpass the night of old danger--the jovial mockery of mortality and the reverence for death preceding resurrection, followed by their joyful glory!  I got to finish the night off with a young friend of mine at a Michael Buble concert, so there is that.

The following Sunday, our parish youth group held a little saints' festival, with a procession, a pot-luck, saints' booths, and some games.

Can you guess which saint is which?

I sneaked in and drew Little Nellie when no one was looking because she is my son's favorite saint.  (And by favorite, I mean, she's my favorite, and am always talking to him about her.)  At the end, the older kids were admiring it and asking who drew it.  But I said nothing, and no one thought to ask me.  I sort of hope they think she came down and did it herself.  Child saints are mischievous like that!

All Souls' Day dawned wet and dreary.  We heard Mass said and prayed for the dead.  I intended to visit the cemetery but the night drew on early, and time sped away.  Later, I discovered that there are many plenary indulgences available for the souls in Purgatory during this week.  (Also see the Today section of any day between November 1st and 8th at CatholicCulture.org, at the very bottom, to get detailed information on the plenary indulgences.)  So, we've got to find our way out there before All Souls' Week ends.  We wrote the names of loved ones passed (and the passed of our loved ones) on the envelope to lie before the tabernacle all month and baked a soul cake to welcome ghosts.  But we mostly just ate it ourselves!

I didn't get to unravel my profuse and tangled thoughts on Catholic Hallowe'en . . . it may still be forthcoming, especially since it has so much to do with wonder, holy superstition, and the world of Faerie working in the Christian cosmos.  So we're rapping up Halloween Week a little bit late here on Everything to Someone, but as November is the month of the Holy Souls, it seems fitting that the macabre themes of All Hallows' Eve should follow into the last month of autumn.  November is, after all, a bare month, distilled and pensive.

The stripped and shapely
Maple grieves
The loss of her
Departed leaves. 

The ground is hard,
As hard as stone.
The year is old,
The birds are flown. 

And yet the world,
Nevertheless,
Displays a certain
Loveliness-- 

The beauty of
The bone.  Tall God
Must see our souls
This way, and nod. 

(From the poem "November" by John Updike)

Today

Nov. 4, Feast of St. Charles Borromeo, patron against ulcers, intestinal disorders, stomach diseases, colic, and of apple orchards, bishops, catechists, catechumens, seminarians, spiritual directors, spiritual leaders, and starch makers.  I don't know if what is meant by "colic" is a sad disposition or fussiness in babies.  If the latter, that knowledge would have come in handy when the Squirt was an infant!

Masha's recipe for soul cake gives "piece of cake" a whole new meaning!

Today, I am . . .

Feeling . . . calm.  The initial rush of autumn and October is over.  For a few weeks, we have peace to look forward to, with nothing but our own little goals and private commitments. November is a lovely month, contemplative, especially in the light of October, but also because it is the month of the Holy Souls.  (Don't forget to pray for them!)

Seeing . . . the Halloween decorations come down.  And you know what?  I'm not a bit sad.  That's the funny thing about holidays (holy days) and seasons.  You don't want them to be always.  Already I feel the turning of the wheel, and that time of year, the excitement, the indescribable aura, is fading away and we are moving on.  It's time. 

Smelling . . . the autumn-scented candle burning in a fresh, clean bedroom. 

Tasting . . . pumpkin!  So much pumpkin.  Everywhere.  Pumpkin cookies, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin butter,  pumpkin soup, pumpkin sauteed in a pan with olive oil, salt, and spices . . . everything but pumpkin pie (which, interestingly, is my least favorite pumpkin food).  Delicious! 

Listening . . . to "10,000 Reasons" by Matt Redman.  I'm not a big contemporary worship music fan, but this one is good.

Also, a talk on CD by Dr. Scott Hahn on the New Evangelization, about how it is a Eucharistic evangelization.  Highly recommended. 

Grateful . . . for online thrifting.  In other words, threadUP.  My world will never be the same!  Click the link to shop and get a $10 credit applied to your order at checkout.  Sorry to sound like an advertisement, but I'm really excited about this.  The clothes are so cute and like new!  I got an entire winter wardrobe for the Squirt between $3 and $5 apiece!  Delivered straight to my door.  Awwwwwwwwwww, yeah. 

Reading . . . nothing . . . yet!  But The Prisoner of Azkaban is right around the corner, kids! 

Loving . . . our cozy little home.  The Eucharist.  The profound peace that comes from surrender and obedience to Holy Mother Church (can you tell I just went to Confession?). 

Hoping . . . to finish up my Halloween series tomorrow.

See more Today sensory notes over at Piękno.

Liturgical Living: All Souls'

Nov. 2, Feast of the Commemoration of All Faithful Departed, a.k.a All Souls' Day.

May they rest in peace.  Amen.

May the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.

Requiescant in pace.  Amen.

St. Gertrude's prayer.

Theme Thursday: Scary

 Oct. 31, Vigil of the Feast of All Saints, a.k.a. All Hallows' Eve.

Here is a trivia question for you: which picture is scary, and which one is sweet?

A happy, holy All Hallows' Even to you!

Five Spooky Favorites

Oct. 30, Feast of St. Alphonsus Rodriguez.  Beset with tragedy, he was the picture of humility, living most of his life as doorkeeper for the Jesuits.  His piety attracted the attention of many, including the St. Peter Claver and fellow Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins, who made him the subject of one of his poems.

-- 1 --

I first saw Beetlejuice when I was five years old at a friend's house, and while I wouldn't recommend it showing it to your kindergartner, it's been a favorite of mine ever since.  This campy goth movie is totally fun and features a young Winona Ryder!

-- 2 --

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie, not the awful WB televesion series!) hails from the same time period as Beetlejuice and is a cult classic.  It should be too, as it hilariously parodies the genre.  This one is so much fun!  I highly recommend it!  And hey, apparently the same guy created Firefly.  So win-win!

-- 3 --

Do you miss the good ol' Disney Chanel days before Lizzie McGuire (gag!)?  Remember when the Disney Channel Original movies weren't mass produced and actually approached interesting plots, rather than throwing a punned title out on the table and writing them from there?  Remember the original series that were thought-provoking, like So Weird, or actually entertaining, like Even Stevens?  Remember the good movies like My Stepsister Is an Alien and the Luck of the Irish?  Me, too.

Halloweentown falls in with the above.  There's a whole series of movies that progresses after this one, and they all have their charms, but when you must choose, stick with the original.

-- 4 --

The classic Halloween movie.  Hocus Pocus is a must-see.

-- 5 --

The Others is probably my favorite scary movie, period.  Now, I'm more creeped out by mind games and mysteries, so keep that in mind--there's no gore and a lot of things that are only circumstantially scary (not inherently so), but man!  This will creep you out!  In a good way!  It's the quintessential, turn-of-the-century, haunted English mansion ghost story.  But you won't be bored for a minute.

Runners up included:

• The Blair Witch Project--they say what we're scared of most is the unknown.  I think that's what did it for me in this movie.  The not-seeing.  It helped that it was creepily made to look like a found medium.
• Sweeney Todd--when you want to sing and dance a bit macabre, or a lot.  It's tons of fun, and the bloodiness is so over the top it swings back around 180 degrees and doesn't bother me.
• Sleepy Hollow--also with Johnny Depp, and Christina Ricci, if you like colonial history like me, this one is enjoyable and scary!  Thought it has a bit of a weird take on the source of the trouble.
• Rocky Horror Picture Show--excluded because, well, moral offense abounds.  I watch it up to the part when they finish singing the Time Warp--which, let's face it, is the most important part of the whole film!

What do you like to cuddle up to watch on a cold evening?  Any favorite scary movies to recommend?  What about Halloween favorites?

Five Favorites is hosted this week at Mama Needs Coffee.

Liturgical Living: Hallowe'en Week

Oct. 28, Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles.  St. Simon is patron of curriers, sawmen, sawyers, and tanners.  St. Jude is the patron of desperate situations, forgotten causes, hospital workers, hospitals, impossible causes, and the diocese of St. Petersburg in Florida ( holla!).

It's the opposite of a secret: Halloween is my favorite holiday.

Holiday--from the combination of the words "holy" and "day," meaning a holy day.  If you're Catholic, you know what that is.

(No!  It's not just an extra day to go to Mass in the middle of the week.)

But seriously, I've always been aware of the American Protestant tendency to shun Halloween as "of the devil" and shoplifted from Paganism.  In middle school, I eagerly read and enjoyed the book Save Halloween!, which gave me much insight into the super-conservative Protestant way of thinking.  I also had one or two friends who thought it on par with Satanism.

At the same time, I don't think I've ever seriously given much credence to these claims.  Even before my family enriched their lives by deepening their knowledge and practice of the Faith, Halloween was a precious time for me: a time for gathering in the warmth of home with family; for harvest and good things to eat; for running in the cold until fire burned deep in your belly, warming you from the inside out; for leaping into a kaleidoscope of crisp fallen leaves and the lacework of bare branches; for remembering, through cats and calaveras, that we are more than what we appear; for lighting candles against the growing dark and looking forward to Christmas.  In short, all the good things of childhood; and also a symbol, though one my young mind was yet to fully comprehend, of the temporariness of this world, and the looking forward to the World to come.

Cute, glow-in-the-dark, Halloween themed skeleton pajamas?  We are not amused. 

Well, more and more I've come across, not only Protestant, but Catholic opposition to the celebration of Hallowe'en--that is, All Hallows' Eve--and its liturgical pocket called Hallowmas.

The capable faithful, I am glad to say, have spoken out in disagreement against this Puritain-adopted tendency to repel anything that has remote connections or similarities with non-Christian sources.  Such opposition is a paradox: as we know that the Creator, in a sense, permeates His creation--and that one cannot look around the world and not see the Father reflected in it.

Similarly, the attempts of some of these Catholics and Protestants to reclaim Hallowe'en as a holy day of the Christian Church do so, perhaps unwittingly, at the expense of the reclamation itself--denouncing all ties to pre-Christian symbolism, either real or fabricated.

But more on that later.  This is but the introduction.  As part of my project on incorporating the medieval liturgical year into our everyday living, I intend to designate this entire week of blogging to Hallowtide and Hallowmas: Halloween, All Saints', and All Souls--the autumn triduum, if you will--with tips on how to decorate, favorites, and why I think being scared is sometimes good (hint: it's tied into fairy tales).  And of course lots of photographs!

Making a break with black-and-white motiff and doing a complete 180--lots of orange!

At least, that's my noble intention.  I'm a terrible one for commitments, so we'll see how it all unfolds.  In the meantime, check out what these worthy Papists have to say:

• Naysayers Gonna Naysay by Kendra at Catholic All Year
• Reclaiming the Reclamation by Martha of Ireland at Internet Monk
• Top Ten Ways to Have a Catholic Halloween by Taylor Marshal

If anyone has any other relevant links, I'd love to know about them!

Seven (Awesome) Quick Takes: Volume 27

Oct. 18, Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist; patron of artists, bachelors, bookbinders, brewers, butchers, glassworkers, goldsmiths, lacemakers, notaries, painters, physicians, sculptors, stained glass workers, and surgeons.

-- 1 --

So much.

-- 2 --

Let me steal a few seconds of non-fevered coherence to say that I finished Firefly with Serenity while bedridden and now feel I can honorably use the word "shiny" to describe things that are not but are otherwise pretty cool.

-- 3 --

On the plus side, we're almost all better now.

On the down side:

-- 4 --

Additionally, I learned something very valuable from Firefly, and applicable in everyday life.

-- 5 --

While we're on the Doctor Who line,

See?  Awesomeness is not a coincidence.

-- 6 --

So I would love to get a bunch of people together one year and go trick-or-treating as the cast of Firefly.  I call Inara.  Not because it's always been a secret wish of mine to masquerade as a high-class courtesan, but because she gets to wear the. most. beautiful costumes.

Plus, I have the hair for it.  Awesome.

-- 7 --

Speaking of group costumes, the Squirt is in perfect hair shape to pull off a mean Draco Malfoy!  Wouldn't that be--you know--awesome?  But they don't make Slytherin robes in sizes that small, and I don't have time to make (hahahahaahahahaha!!!) one, so I'm reserving that for next year.

I'll go as Hermione.  Because . . . I also have the hair for it . . . also.

So for now, it defaults to Wizard of Oz.  Because my youngest sister has been Dorothy for the past twelve years straight and has all the costuming; because a little scarecrow works well as an adorable standalone Halloween costume for a toddler; and because I never tire of the traditional witch costume!

See Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!

Five Favorites (Vol. 31)

Oct. 2, Feast of the Guardian Angels.

-- 1 + 2 --

Primitives by Kathy makes embellished word art for every season.  As I've said before, I like word art, and not just because it's a fad.  Unfortunately, they're pretty expensive for a chunk of painted wood.  Fortunately, they tend to come out early and so go on sale about a month before the approaching holiday.

Which, in this case, is my second favorite: HALLOWEEN.

I am a huge fan of Halloween.

-- 3 --

Haling back to my inexplicable obsession with all things Scandinavian--and I mean in furniture, art, culture, literature, genetics, language, landscape, knitting . . . all things--the Norwegian and Swedish art of rosemaling attracts me.  It can range from simple, Shaker-esque paint strokes on wooden furniture to rich-colored, highly detailed stenciling.  If I see anything that vaguely reminds me of rosemaling or that could pass as it, I want it.

I've yet to paint my own decorations, but I do want to.  Especially with the abundance of resources online nowadays.  I can find some authentic stencils and decorate the pieces I already own.

-- 4 --

I saw these witty paper organizing tools in the bookstore, and now I can't remember the name of the company that makes them.

-- 5 --

I purchased this scarf at World Market this past summer.  It's part of a collection called Gypsy Caravan (awesome, right?!).  The color, the weight and feel of the fabric, and the bunch and drape of the scarf make a winning combination.  I bought with it a necklace to match (it's woven many strands of woven string of the same color, strung with small, brassy beads).

I also got two ceramic doorknobs to install into an old cupboard.  They're stamped with a very simple red design that reminds me of . . . you guessed it!  Rosemaling.

I could have stayed in World Market for much longer, but I didn't, which was a mercy to all parties involved, myself and my wallet.

What We're Reading Wednesday

Sept. 25, Feasts of Saint Finbarr of Cork, from whence my husband's maternal family hails.  The Irish saint drove out a great serpent from the lake in Gougane, creating the channel that is now the river Lee.

Today is my husband's birthday!  We love you, cariad!

However, he has no interest in books, so the above three are my picks.  (Interestingly, and totally unrelated, two of the three books above have punctuation marks as part of their titles.  Huh.)

1.  Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton

I've been interested in this book ever since I caught scenes of the movie The Thirteenth Warrior on television and saw that it was about VIKINGS.  I wanted to know more, and gathered over the years that it was based on a book that was a re-telling of the Beowulf epic.  I knew then I had to read it.  However, I could never find it in the library, despite the popularity of this author (Crichton also wrote Jurassic Park, among others).  So last time I was at the book store, I bought this little inexpensive copy and am very happy I did.

The story is narrated by a real historical figure whom the author borrowed and adapted for his novel, naturally infusing it with veracity--but he doesn't stop there.  He makes the narrative a kind of "found" manuscript, with notes and insertions from translators and even an appendix in back, with imaginary sources and experts in the field.

Crichton adopts the voice of the Arabic courtier, Ibn Fadlan, and makes a pretty good transition between the original, true accounts and the fictional ones.  I notice a greater tendency toward poetic description and more personal reaction in the fictitious part, which makes up the entirety of the book after the first three chapters, but I didn't really notice the transition until I was already well in and won over.

The premise of the novel is that the monsters of Beowulf, particularly Grendel, were based on a historical event--actually a tribe of remnant Neanderthals that survived in Scandinavia and attacked Hrothgar's (Rothgar in the novel) hall.  The account of the event through a foreigner's eyes is well chosen because Ibn Fadlan gives us explanations and reflections that he wouldn't have if he were a Northman.  I enjoyed reading about their unique customs and culture (not sure what was fact and what was fictitious--this book has made me realize that I need to pick up some non-fiction reading on Vikings) and also this re-adaptation of a classic of Western civilization.

According to Crichton, he set out to write Eaters of the Dead to prove to a scholar friend that the saga of Beowulf was not boring.  I say, good for you!  And well done.

2.  Call to Action or Call to Apostasy? by Brian Clowes

I rented this from the parish library on a whim.  I was intrigued because I accidentally attended a Call to Action talk in college at the local Franciscan center and was shocked into a cold sweat by what the woman was saying.  It took all my strength to remain sitting, firmly gripping my chair, my jaw clenched--and a few dozen Hail Mary's besides.  This is basically a rudimentary booklet outlining the way dissenters attack the four aspects of the Church--one, holy, catholic, and apostolic--with some resources and advice for beginners wanting to get involved.  The author remains charitable and makes a clear distinction between the dissenters themselves and their unworthy intentions.  He writes, "It is not us against them.  It is all of us against Satan."  Very important.

It was a quick and easy read, and I'm glad for having read it.  However, there are probably more thorough and contemplative studies out there, if CTA, CORPUS, WATER, and other agitation groups aren't new to you.

3.  Ghosts in the House! by Kazuno Kohara

I.  Love.  This book.  It's most everything I cherish about my childhood memories of Halloween between two covers, accented by beautiful, tri-chromatic illustrations.  The crisp, elegant, and cute illustration style is so typical of Japanese children's art (think Hello Kitty), and the white-orange-black combination is surprisingly stunning and effective.  It looks like Ms. Kohara cut out tissue paper for the ghosts and glued it to her wood-block-print pictures.

The story itself is cute and fun, from the ghosts in the washing machine to the little white cat who puts on a black "catsuit" when his mistress dons her pointy witch hat!  My two-and-a-half-year-old son loves this, and I love reading it to him!  New favorite.  Perfect for Halloween.

I really want her other picture books now, Little Wizard and Jack Frost.

Seven Quick Takes: Volume 10

A Day Late!

-- 1 --

I forced myself, though ill, to take Scoot out trick-or-treating on Wednesday.  It was worth the fatigue and backache to see him, first fascinated with the glowing jack-o-lanterns, then wandering onto people's porches and trying to open the front doors, and at last getting the idea and holding his pumpkin bucket out for candy, even grabbing himself an extra piece when offered.

(Sorry this is the only picture I have available right now.  It's awful, but I know even bad baby pictures are better at luring readers than no baby pictures.)

Of course, everybody thought he was a girl.  He's so pretty!

-- 2 --

Halloween is also the anniversary of Martin Luther's 95 Theses.

History somehow makes out like he was bravely defying the status quo and seldom mentions that he posted them--not on the door of a church--but on something like a community flyer board, and that he was posting them as talking points for discussion.  Later, when everyone ignored him, he got angry, and started to attack the teachings of the Church, rather than just the corrupt practices (which he was totally justified in critiquing, let me be the first to say).

Then he went AWOL and started to throw out whole books of the Bible (Hebrews, James, Revelations . . .) and even tried to edit some of the biggies.

He also added the single most troublesome word in all of biblical-Christian history: the word "alone" in the "man is justified by faith alone" passage (Romans 3:28), thus beginning the single greatest schism in Christendom since Pentecost.  There's now something like 20,000 verifiable Protestant denominations claiming to be the Biblical authority.

Now, I'm writing all this from memory, no matter how well-informed that memory may be.  So please, if I've made an factual errors, correct me.

I ought to do some solid research to reference these little-known facts and write a more extensive post on them later.  Does anyone know a good scholarly book or article on the subject?

-- 3 --

My short story submission for the Tuscany Prize in Catholic Fiction has made it to the final round.

Five hundred dollars would be nice, but more than that, I need a sign from God to lift my spirits.  That's the real reason I have the gall to ask for prayers that my story would win.

-- 4 --

-- 5 --

Most recent soup concoction: roasted carrot and parsnip.  I.  Am.  In.  Love.

Just cut up some carrots, parsnips, and onions; roast in salt, pepper, and olive oil; then puree in a blender and stir in a big pot.  I cannot tell you how good it is.  And quite easy.  Here's the recipe.

-- 6 --

As Thanksgiving approaches, here's something for my "fellow" women:

homage to my hips  

by Lucille Clifton 

these hips are big hips
they need space to
move around in.
they don't fit into little
petty places.  these hips
are free hips.
they don't like to be held back.
these hips have never been enslaved,
they go where they want to go
they do what they want to do.
these hips are mighty hips.
these hips are magic hips.
i have known them
to put a spell on a man and
spin him like a top!

-- 7 --

So I really want a spinning wheel.

And no, this isn't like the time I wanted a pipe, just to carry around and suck on sans-tobacco every now and then because somewhere, somehow, deep down inside, no matter how much anyone reasoned with me, I thought it would be super-cool and fun to be like Gandalf.

"By the Spinning Wheel," Joseph-Athanase Aufray

This is a for-serious-I-must-own-one-someday.  Especially as I found out that my friend Josh owns two, and a recent picture that showed up on my friend Jenna's blog reveals what suspiciously looks to be the wheel part of a spinning wheel.

Oh, and have you noticed, my fairy tale blog is spinning-themed?  Just sayin'.

I've actually contacted the local spinning guild by e-mail twice this past summer.  No response.  I suppose I should, you know, focus on finishing to crochet the baby blanket I started to make while I was pregnant before I even think about making my own yarn.

Sigh.  Toddlers do not lend themselves well to keeping balls of yarn un-tangled.

Though, let's be honest here, I view even an unused spinning wheel as the opposite of a frivolous buy.

Seven Quick Takes: Volume 9

The Illustrated Version

In which I take all my thus-far-unused photos and make a post out of them.

Note to self: retrieve camera battery charger from parents' house.  Instacam is fun, yes, but blurry photos are getting old.  

As always, Seven Quick Takes Friday is hosted at Conversion Diary.  Click here to see more Quick Takes.

-- 1 --

We are starting to show the awareness of the bathroom and it's uses.  I foresee potty training in our future.

-- 2 --

-- 3 --

Found on my apartment steps a few months back.  Dead.  Still mildly disconcerting?  Yes.

-- 4 --

-- 5 --

The turkeys are a bit early.  This one was with a flock of other ones, some white (albino?) like him/her, other smaller and darker.

In my parents' vast yard.  Must be the neighbors'.

-- 6 --

Spaghetti squash is seasonal and makes a healthy, delicious substitute for carb-loaded pasta.  When you cut them open, they smell and feel like pumpkin, and their seeds look like a pumpkin's as well, which is even more reason to love them.

-- 7 --

More Halloween.  Check out my little pumpkin!