Fiax Lux

"Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine."

Sat, 04 May 2013 05:45:22 -0400

“Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine.”

- Thomas Aquinas (via sonofmonks)

bygoneamericana: Wilmington High School, undated. By Walter...

Fri, 03 May 2013 17:16:22 -0400

bygoneamericana:

Wilmington High School, undated.

By Walter Sanders

No body but yours.

Fri, 03 May 2013 11:30:19 -0400

littlewoosh:

“Christ has no body now, but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which
Christ looks compassion into the world.
Yours are the feet
with which Christ walks to do good.
Yours are the hands
with which Christ blesses the world.”

-St. Teresa of Avila

Photo

Fri, 03 May 2013 05:45:21 -0400

back-then: Seven up. 1920 (via Shorpy)

Thu, 02 May 2013 17:16:04 -0400

back-then:

Seven up. 1920

(via Shorpy)

Photo

Thu, 02 May 2013 11:30:30 -0400

"In addition to justice, man needs, and will always need, Love."

Thu, 02 May 2013 05:45:22 -0400

“In addition to justice, man needs, and will always need, Love.”

- Deus Caritas Est, pope-emeritus Benedict XVI

bygoneamericana: Teenage girls, 1944. By Nina Leen I feel like...

Wed, 01 May 2013 17:15:26 -0400

bygoneamericana:

Teenage girls, 1944.

By Nina Leen

I feel like that fourth girl today—went to my local Christian bookstore today, and the owner gave me 21 papal bulls and encyclicals, working documents of various Bishops’ Synods, publications of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, etc. for FREE!

Add in that I found Evangelium Vitae, a biography of a refugee priest who wound up in my diocese, a book of Blessed JP II’s poetry, and a priest retreat book from 1938.

Then, I skipped home like I’d just won a candy store, a pony and the lottery.

I love books!

back-then: Elin Wägner standing next to 351,454 signatures...

Wed, 01 May 2013 11:30:34 -0400

back-then:

Elin Wägner standing next to 351,454 signatures demanding women get the right to vote. Sweden 1914

“For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with...

Wed, 01 May 2013 05:45:16 -0400

“For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap [their] hands.” Isaiah 55:12

danielafmicucci: Se castigan estas monjitas… #nun #Chile...

Wed, 01 May 2013 04:36:16 -0400

danielafmicucci:

Se castigan estas monjitas…
#nun #Chile #ViñadelMar

Admission Application

Wed, 01 May 2013 03:21:46 -0400

School is over, and unless I fail the only class whose grade is not posted yet, I’m done my degree. I’ve also received the blessed news that my mum’s been holding back enough of my school money to pay off my student loans immediately.

In short: I’m graduated, debt-free, and embarking on a two-month aspirancy at the end of May.

Also, I’m vaguely terrified. But that’s nothing new. For the past few weeks, I’ve been in a weird mood where I’ve been thinking a lot about God, but to seemingly little positive effect—it’s more like worrying than praying. The answer? Pray for more faith and trust, I guess. Recognize that emotions are temporary, and have as much to do with my state of de/caffeination as the state of my soul. My parents’/teachers’/coaches’ approval (or lack thereof) is neither the beginning nor the end of the world. Get to confession once my diocese’s priests get back from retreat. Sit in front of Jesus in theTabernacle. Failing all that, drink some Scotch. Sleep in my backyard, under the stars, and get woken up by the glow of racoons’ eyes.

Do y’all have any better ideas?

My roomate once said that I overanalyze God the same way that she overanalyzes men—and frankly, both of us should probably stop it.

Finally, the autobiography section of the monastery’s application form is driving me around the bend. Good things in life don’t come without effort—but writing a 360* in-depth essay of everything I’ve done, felt and experienced (personally and relationally) in my life is, at this point, a non-starter. Would it be weird to bring my laptop to the cathedral to work in front of the Tabernacle? Does anyone have any advice on how to tackle this sort of thing?

nuncumn Note to self: put down cellphone, pick up some silence....

Wed, 01 May 2013 02:09:18 -0400

nuncumn

Note to self: put down cellphone, pick up some silence. There’s a reason, I think, that this image seems incongruous.

back-then: Alice Boughton, Two women under a tree (1906) Could...

Wed, 01 May 2013 01:55:00 -0400

back-then:

Alice Boughton, Two women under a tree (1906)

Could I please dress like this all the time? Or at least, for all activities except for running and climbing trees?

Religious Discrimination and Depression

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:59:36 -0500

kathleenhockey:

Yesterday (10/18/12) an article was published in Medical News Today online about discrimination towards those struggling with depression. Briefly summarized, a survey of 1082 people in 35 different countries yielded the following results. They should be a concern for all of us.

Read More

Inside the Olympic Dream (by Cameron Sylvester) I want the...

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 23:04:09 -0500

Inside the Olympic Dream (by Cameron Sylvester)

I want the national team to come back to the boathouse. Seeing them every morning helps me to remember my own goals.

Female Saints who Loved the Eucharist

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 15:36:27 -0500

Female Saints who Loved the Eucharist:

And still love Him, in Heaven!

Athlete and vocation

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 13:56:34 -0500

Athlete and vocation:

I’m considering going straight from end-of-term into a three-month aspirancy at the monastery. I’ve realized that my only real reason for not doing this is fear—and how many times are we told “do not be afraid!”? But even so, I am afraid—three months in semi-cloistered conditions means that I would emerge afterwards with greatly diminished aerobic fitness. This would rather screw my plans of continuing to row at a high level while I work to pay off my student loans. In the grand scheme of eternity, not important—but in my own silly head, very important. God, please give me the grace to get this straight!

Catholics on campus (aka I attempt to remove my ego in order to make room for God)

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 23:58:21 -0500

In the struggle to act freely as socially conservative (e.g. Catholic, pro-life) clubs on campus, it’s easy to lose sight of why we, as a Catholic organization and as an organization composed largely of Catholics, want to be active on campus in the first place.

It’s not to prove that we are right.

It’s not to prove that we are smarter, more logical, more rational, more reasonable than anyone else.

It’s not to prove that we can do more, help more people, be kinder, be more compassionate, more anti-oppressive than anyone else.

It’s not so we can save babies or save souls.

It’s not so we can bring God to campus.

No.

God doesn’t need us to be His presence or do His work on campus—He’s already here.

If He chooses to do so, He can work through us—but He also can, does and is working through everyone else on campus. In the midst of a sisyphean complaints process that’s blown up in my face during the final weeks of this semester, it’s easy to lose sight of His presence. I am angry about the stress and disruption that this is causing for myself and other members of the community on campus; I am angry this has not been resolved earlier, or more neatly, or more according to my preferences; I do not want to be walking this bureaucratic stations of the cross.

Then again, He didn’t want to be walking the stations of the cross the first time around—so who am I to reject this one? He died for me, and all of humanity, not so that I can do His work—but so that He can, if He so chooses, perform works of salvation through me, through these clubs and through the lives of all students on campus.

What I want is to yell, and scream, and point out how stupid it is to for academics to view innocuous religious speech acts as harassment—but that would be missing the point.

It’s time for Him to work through me, rather than me to work for (and, too often, against) Him. This doesn’t mean I can sit back and do nothing—but it’s time to trust that God has already fought the biggest battle.

Christ is risen from the dead,

By death He conquered death,

And to those in the graves

He granted life!

—Paschal troparion

I don’t need to win arguments for Him—He’s already won.

"why do you live in your body like you will be given another? as if it were temporary. you starve it,..."

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 08:13:30 -0500

“why do you live in your body like you will be given another? as if it were temporary. you starve it, you let anyone touch it, you berate it. tell it that should be completely different. you tug at your soft flesh, wish it thinner, wish it gone. you fall in love with those who praise the way it sighs under their hands, but who praises the way it holds up your weight, even when you are falling apart?”

- warsan shire (via spartanbitch)