Spending Lent looking back at what the Church used to teach

Greetings in Christ to all my readers! 

I've mentioned before on this blog that I am a collector of old Catholic books - I'm a bit obsessed with them to be honest. If they are over 100 years old I want them. 

They played an enormous part in my conversion. I don't think just visiting any Novus Ordo Mass around me would have done it on its own because the parishes around here hardly reflect the Faith found in these old Catholic books. It was the combination of prayers, Mother Angelica's EWTN (side note here-if you're not watching Fr. Mitch's Scripture&Tradition you are missing out on some great teachings!), my need for the Truth, good Catholic family & friends and these wonderful old books that eventually led me and my children to become Catholic. 

Yesterday I decided to pull them out and read them for Lent. I've done this before and enjoyed it very much. This year I am going to share them on my blog for anyone interested in reading what our beloved Catholic Church used to teach us. 

There is one book I am likely to focus on the most, its "The Catholic Church Alone The One True Church of Christ" published by Catholic Educational Company, New York, Philadelphia in 1899. It's a personal favorite of mine.

Ebay offers this book: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1899-The-Catholic-Church-Alone-The-One-True-Church-of-Christ/264598032939

One of my plans for Lent is to not complain on this blog about the Pope or the goings on at the Vatican. Rather I want to go back to the teachings our previous Shepherds gave to help save our souls. With all the horrible news coming from the Church: corruption, scandals, abuse, homosexual clergy, heresies, etc., I really need to submerge myself in the good stuff- the stuff that helped me fall in love with the Church and want to be a part of it.

So for Lent, I will be sharing what I find in these old books on my blog. I hope you will check in and share your thoughts on these writings and maybe share some quotes from some of your own favorite books. 

I would love to hear your thoughts on Lent and what books you have decided to read or prayers you're doing. 

God bless you all! 

Julie 

Surviving Hurricane Irene

I've lived in Connecticut all my life, so I've endured several hurricanes and for the most part we've always made out with only minor damages over the decades (a partial lost roof, trees down, mild water damage and busted windows mostly). Thankfully, we've never known the total destruction of our home or any loss of life from a hurricane. My heart goes out to the people who are now (and in the past) suffering the ultimate price of living in the path of a hurricane.
For us Hurricane Irene was just a big pain in the backside most of the time. I say most of the time, because the rest of the time my children's laughter and giggles blocked out the inconveniences and frustration. Not having electricity or a land line phone for four days is humbling and frustrating (we've gone longer periods, so those of you still without power you have my sympathies).

How many times did we flick a light switch walking into a room or pick up the phone only to hear dead silence on the other end? Too many to count. We spent our days outside looking up and down the road (along with our neighbors) in hopes of seeing any CT Light & Power truck on it's way. We also played board games like "Sorry" and "Scrabble". Our evenings were spent listening to the radio sparingly because once those batteries were gone, that was it. There were no batteries to be found anywhere.

Reading by flashlight was a limited treat because again, we didn't want to use up the batteries and be left completely in the dark. I tried candlelight, but the flickering bothered my eyes more often than not. And I couldn't focus well on reading one single book (I'm the type of person that when something is bothering me-like not knowing when the power will come back on- I can't focus well or absorb what I read. My brain is easily distracted much to my annoyance.

But I did manage to retain a few things I read. Like the fact that it was a Catholic priest named Fr. Frank Peyton who coined the motto "The family that prays together, stays together" in 1947 while trying to promote his Family Rosary Crusade. I had heard protestants use that quote all the time, I now wonder if they knew it came from a Catholic priest wanting to promote praying the rosary?!

I also learned that Alfred Hitchcock was a Catholic and that light blue vestments are not allowed in the United States, but varying shades of violet are. I learned the skullcap worn by Bishops is called a "zucchetto". I learned that encyclical letters and encyclical epistles are not the same things. Encyclical letters are from a pope to the entire Church, while encyclical epistles are addressed to a specific part of the Church. For instance, the pope might direct an encyclical epistle to America, but not to the rest of the Catholic Church around the world. I

I didn't know these things before Hurricane Irene hit, so besides being thankful for surviving Irene and having only minor damage, I am also thankful for the new things I learned about my Catholic faith.

**The book I learned these things from is: "The Catholic Almanac's Guide to the Church" by Matthew Bunson.