What I Learned Wednesday #34: Millennial "Trad Fad"

I know, I know. It's been a couple of week since I've written one of these WILW posts but most of my Wednesdays have been occupied with studying for exams so I haven't had the chance to write. Since this is my first free Wednesday in weeks (how did that happen?!), I thought I'd spent it writing about something that has irked me lately. I usually break these things up into three parts but I'm only focusing on this one topic this week.

Have you heard of the Millennial "Trad Fad"? You know, the trend in which Millennials immerse themselves in the world of Latin Masses, mantillas/chapel veils, and other pre-Vatican II things. Golly, we Millennials are such hipsters. (side note: don't let the article title fool you; it doesn't actually say that we're hipsters.) I'm kind of hoping that Pope Francis' comments were misunderstood and that he doesn't really think that this is a fad... but I've heard that he's not a big of Latin Masses so I don't know.

I've never shied away from the fact that I really, really miss Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI for several reasons, including the fact that (thanks to him) we've had Summorum Pontificum for 7 years now. Are the alleged quotes from Pope Francis legit? I don't know... but I would be disappointed if they were. For someone who is so welcoming of others and their differences, the quotes made me cringe a little.

I can't speak for others on why they prefer "traditional" Catholicism but I can tell you that many of my fellow Millennials who do have a preference to Latin Masses, chapel veils, incense (aka "smells and bells"), Gregorian chant, etc. don't do it for the fad/trend of it. I've never once heard "ooh, not everyone is into this? I need to do this." A good portion of us were poorly catechized and/or we've reverted/converted to the faith and we've come to these things on our own. Nobody did the thinking for us; we learned to appreciate them on our own. Free will, y'all. I personally looked into some - not all - of the changes that came from the Second Vatican Council while I was at that awful CINO college (because they didn't teach these things; they taught that anything pre-Vatican II was outdated and bordered on evil) so I was able to make my own informed decisions based on my preferences.

When I reverted 8 years ago, no one told me there were different types of Masses... but I still knew that I liked my Masses solemn. When I learned about Latin Masses, I knew I'd found the right fit for me. The clappy-clappy/hand-holding thing has never been for me. Even as a child, I felt obligated to hold people's hands when I didn't want to. I just wanted to focus on what the priest was doing/saying. Part of this was because of my introverted temperament and partly because it just didn't feel right for me. I'm not going to knock it if it works for you but I personally just don't like it. I know I'm going to get a lot of flack for this, but I'd appreciate my Masses without a mariachi band or a jazz ensemble. Yes, I endured one *cringe* "jazz Mass" before... and, though I love jazz, it needs to stay far, far away from my Masses. That's just my preference. I like to feel like I'm there to have my time with God, not to feel about all the cringing or be distracted by other things. That's why I love the first Sunday Mass at my parish; my spiritual director and the lovely nuns praying in Latin (with no outside distractions) is such a wonderful way to start my day.

As for chapel veils, I know some of y'all saw the passionate exchange I had with a good friend a couple of weeks ago on Twitter. I won't get into it because there's no reason to but it did inspire me to write about this topic. I veil because I want to. No one is making me do it; no one told me it would make holier... because it doesn't mean squat whether you veil or not if you're not following God's commandments. I made sure I learned the significance of veiling, the custom origin, and it was enough to make me want to do it. Yes, I know -- nerd alert for all the research I've done! Again, no brainwashing; it was a conclusion I arrived to on my own and that I feel most comfortable doing.

I don't veil only when I attend Masses. I also do it when I pray in front of the tabernacle or when alone in a church. I don't always "veil" either. I do keep my head covered but hats and scarves replace veils from time to time. The point is that I cover my head as a symbol of my love and respect for God. It also helps that I always feel like I'm actually there for God; that all sense of pride, arrogance, vanity, all the distractions, etc. get pushed aside. The moment that veil is placed on my head, it literally blocks all earthly distractions from my peripheral view and all I can focus on is on the Mass and/or the tabernacle. Babies -- my biggest Mass distraction -- disappear from view. I am reminded of why I attend Mass and why I believe what I believe.

I do understand that there are people who might be into these things for the wrong reasons. I've heard of "mantilla selfie queens." I haven't actually seen it myself but I've heard that they exist. I've heard of the "holier than thou" crowd. However, they don't represent everyone. Just like a few misguided clergy members (I'm being charitable with my words here) don't represent the entire church, a few "Catholic hipsters" don't represent the rest of us. Give us some credit.

I don't think I really learned anything new this past week other than apparently Millennials who appreciate pre-Vatican II customs are seen as hipsters. At the very least, now y'all sort of know why I do it. Yes, it was a sort of "in a nutshell" explanation but I'll revisit this topic at some point when I don't have too much occupying my mind (aka yes, I have a week off from exams but I'm still trying to keep the info fresh in my mind). :)

That's it for now. I hope y'all are having a great week thus far! If anyone has any prayer intentions, send them my way. :D

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

What I Learned Wednesday #33: Trust, St. Catherine of Genoa, and a Chaplet

I know, I haven't written in over a week. I have at least one major exam per week and a ton of reading and homework to do so that's my excuse. lol. Sorry but I'm basically doing grad level work (or so I was told) in my pre-grad program so I don't have a lot of free time. I'm making time for this post though. :)

So what have I learned since my last WILW post?

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I've been trying to let things go and trying to trust God more. As someone who has suffered from anxiety disorder since she was 15 years old (almost half of my life thus far), it's been hard to not worry or to not try to do everything possible in order to not get a bad experience. A lot of times I want to revert to my old self because it's safe and comfortable but I don't. I'm not letting anxiety get the best of me anymore. I still get anxiety from time to time (and it's been a particular pain in the tush the past two days) but I've learned (thanks to both my spiritual director and my PTSD therapist) to stop it in its tracks so that I don't get derailed. While I'm driving or out, anxiety begins to creep out for whatever reason but I take a deep breath and say "nope, not this time; Lord, I trust in You" and keep going on with whatever I was doing. My SD has been drilling this idea (to let go and trust God despite what I may be feeling) into my head for months now and it's finally sticking. That's nearly 13 years old fears and terrible habits that I'm undoing. I still have a long way to go but I know I'll get there with the help of God, my SD, and some saintly intercessions. :)

Lesson (is being) learned: It's better to simply trust God instead of trying to control outcomes and/or worrying about things that may or may not happen.

II

I'll admit that I haven't read much on St. Catherine of Genoa just yet but what I have learned about her has hit really close to home. Not to say that I endured what she did through a husband (I've never been married) but I've had someone in my life who reminds me of her husband. Without going into detail, I will say that it was not a romantic relationship and that the actions and his later conversion of St. Catherine's husband reminded me so much of that of person. Furthermore, her own personal interior struggles in letting her spiritual director "in" is something I've been working through with my own (very patient and wonderful) spiritual director. This goes back to the whole issue of my learning to trust God. I'm not there yet but I'm slowly getting there. As I said earlier this month, I had never heard of her before the dream I had but I'm so happy that she came up when she did.

Lesson learned: we can learn a lot from the lives of saints. I also have a new saint who inspires me to keep working hard towards my goal of living a more saintly life... and wearing my mantilla more often. St. Catherine of Genoa is a patron for those who are ridiculed for their piety so it works.

III

As I mentioned in my last 7 Quick Takes post, I recently learned about the Chaplet of St. Michael the Archangel and I absolutely love it. The chaplet is a bit different than the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy (which I actually prayed before I finished writing this blog post) but it's so lovely. I love the idea of having an escort of nine angels chosen from each of the nine Choirs accompanying me when receiving Holy Communion. Did you know that was attached to this chaplet? Well, now you do! I have yet to figure out when I will be able to do this (because my day is mostly spent studying/reading) but you can bet that I'm going to try to get into the habit of reciting this chaplet daily.

Lesson learned: there are still a lot of great chaplets, novenas, and prayers out there and all are worth giving a shot. Also, I've inherited my mother's love of angels. 

Well, that's it for now. I need to get back to the salt mines.

I hope y'all are having a great week thus far. 

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless! :D

What I Learned Wednesday #32: Busy Bee Edition

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When I was in 6th grade, I received the "Busy Bee" award from my teachers. The award read "Always Reading, Always Studying." Yes, I was a bookworm and an academic nerd from childhood. I've almost always busied myself with something. The two years between graduation and the start of my next degree (which begins next Monday) were the first time I've ever had downtime... and it was weird for me. I've taken the last 6 months to work on both my first novel and the sequel. While the sequel has also been finished (as in, the story has been written), I still need to flesh it out a little more. For the past month or so, I've really been focused on polishing the first novel as much as I can, with the final proofread currently being done. In that time, I was so consumed with wanting to meet the deadline (May 1st; tomorrow!) that I was failing to pray. I didn't do that purposely; I simply lost track of time while editing. As I wrote last week, it wasn't until I realized that I didn't like not keeping up with my prayers that I made a more conscious effort to change things. While I've gotten back on track (well, for the most part) this week, I've still not where I want to be... and that makes me a little nervous. I'm taking a heavy course load for the next year (5 classes during the summer and for each semester) and I don't want a repeat of what happened during Lent; I don't want to be too busy to pray. I have my next spiritual direction meeting tomorrow and hope I can talk things through with my SD because I feel like I'm going to need all the help I can get.

Lesson learned: Continuation of last week; keep my priorities on the right path. It's hard to schedule prayer time with a busy schedule but it's necessary for my sanity and for my spiritual life.

II

I've been seeing some lady bloggers address the issue of how women shouldn't feel embarrassed about breastfeeding their children in public and/or how to do it in a modest way. The topic is still (hopefully) in the future for me but I'm definitely learning from them already. Julie made a great video on the topic last week. Hearing her speak about it, reading the blog posts others have written, and thinking about incidents in which women were banned from breastfeeding their children in and near Victoria's Secret stores (seriously?!) makes me wonder what I can do to help the situation. It still boggles my mind how it's socially acceptable for men to ogle women's breasts but as soon as they see a mother nursing her child, they get offended. Uh... Does not compute. I know pornography contributes to the problem so I guess I can start by praying for those with addictions; that they may see how harmful it is and will want to kick their addictions to the curve.

Lesson to be learned: What I can do to help this situation. I don't even know where to start (besides praying) but it's something that I will be looking into.

III

One more thing I found kind of disturbing... I've been playing Sims FreePlay on my iPod touch (no, I am not addicted; I just started playing.) I make my Sims do activities that will take them hours to complete so I don't have to pay too much attention to the game, but there are some activities I'm not happy with. One of the tasks was to make two of the Sims be nice to each other. Okay so far. Then they needed to start dating. Not a problem. Before they could get engaged they had to "woo hoo" (as they call it). Um, I'm sorry. What? Apparently the Sims couldn't get engaged or even married in this version until they "woo hoo"-d. Yes. And then, after they were married, they didn't need to "woo hoo" to have a child; they just needed to buy a crib and wait 24 hours for the "stork" to drop their baby off in the crib. No words. Sadly, I think this was done to reflect our culture's attitudes towards sex and children... and it made me really sad. There must be something that can be done to help change this attitude.

Lesson to be learned: Same as number two; learn a way I can help the situation. There are several ways to tackle this issue, I just need to find the one I can do myself. Also, I really don't like playing games that will compromise my beliefs. It may be "just a game" to some people (and I'm sure there are some who are currently criticizing my personal beliefs about this) but it just doesn't sit well with me.

Anyway, that's it for this week. I didn't really learn too much but I wanted something written this week (in case I don't get a chance to between now and Monday) so I did what I could. lol. And now back to Proofreading-landia. lol.

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

What I Learned Wednesday #31: Novels, Pope, and Nuns Editions

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I need to manage my time better when busy because my prayer life falls to the side. As you've probably noticed, I've been M.I.A. because I'm working on my novel deadline. I gave myself a May 1st deadline because I wanted to get it done and out into the wild before I started classes on May 5th. I've had to look for the cover art and figure out how to do it myself (and it's not easy because I have mediocre PhotoShop skills). I've also had to proofread it... and I'm going to have to translate it into Spanish soon (though I actually a program for this). All of this before May 1st is pretty intense and I'm actually thinking about pushing back the release date because I'm not sure it'll all be done by then. Any self-published author will tell you that these things are extremely time consuming. Anyway, even though I've been busier than usual, I shouldn't have let my prayer life fall to the side. I've tried harder the past two days because I realized what I was doing... but it's a challenge. It wasn't until I realized that I wasn't as happy (novel stress aside) because I wasn't taking time to pray that I decided to reevaluate priorities. Although I want to start my classes without the added stress of a novel release, I'd rather not let my prayer life go down the hole. Let's see how it goes in the next week.

Lesson learned: it's good to reevaluate your priorities when you see that something's missing from your life... especially if that something is prayer.

II

Speaking of the novel, I had to find out what Bl. Pope John Paul II's official saint name would be because he's mentioned in the novel. I guess this counts as sort of a spoiler (though not a very big one because y'all don't know in way he's mentioned) but, yes, he's mentioned... and yes, I did find out the name. It will be (Pope) St. John Paul II. I guess the Pope in front of St. JPII is optional. I know I'm a big fan of learning about saints but I haven't really brushed up on the bios of former popes who were canonized so this was a new thing that I learned. I wonder what Ven. Fulton Sheen's saint name will be when the day comes... and it'll come! ;)

Lesson learned: Um, (soon-to-be) St. John Paul II's name? lol.

III

Mother Dolores Hart will be the Guest Programmer for TCM on May 27th! I like to check TCM listings at the end of each month (for the following month) and I sort of geeked out when I saw that she will be choosing the films for the evening. I did a double geek-out when I saw that she picked two of my favorite films, Laura (1944) and The Song of Bernadette (1943). I haven't watched the other films she's picked but I look forward to seeing why she picked each of the films. Oh, and if you click on the link, make sure the time is set to your timezone. The link I posted is set to PST because I'm on the West Coast.

Lesson learned: Mother Dolores Hart has good taste in movies... and TCM is awesome for having her as a guest programmer!

Anyway, that's it for now. I took today (and I'm also taking tomorrow) off to rest my mind (and eyes) from all the eye-straining hours I've spent in front of my laptop... and my blogging isn't helping. lol. I will try to blog more often now that I have a cover picture chosen (I just need to figure out how to add the nice font without making it look horrendous). :)

I hope y'all are well!

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

What I Learned Wednesday #30: I Thought Today Was Thursday Edition

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In case you missed it, the guest post I wrote for The Mirror Magazine is now up for y'all to read. If you've ever wondered why I decided to switch careers from freelance writer to speech-language pathologist, definitely read it. If you're wondering "well, what about your Masters in Theology from Franciscan?" It's still in the cards, down the road. As I've said before, my spiritual director made a joke that I don't look old enough to teach Theology (I still look like a teenager) so I'll just do SLP for now. lol.

Lesson learned: It's okay to change careers. It might not be my ideal career but God has better plans for me and I will just have to trust Him.

II

I was watching the documentary Jazz by Ken Burns (which I am not finished with yet) and learned that a (now) monsignor used to play with Duke Ellington, who was himself Catholic. Msgr. John Sanders has a very fascinating story about how his vocation and how he came to it. I haven't had a chance to do more research on his life story but I found an old L.A. Times article online that covers the basics. Read it; it's so good! Anyone have more info on him? Anyone know where he is now? As someone who is a big fan of jazz (and who almost majored in it; I even filled out an application to USC's program before my reversion), I love it when the world of jazz and Catholicism collide.

Lesson learned: Even in the grittiest of circumstances (and life of jazz musicians was (is?) incredibly hard with many temptations), God finds a way to reveal your vocation. Also, sometimes you don't get to begin your vocation until you're over 30. That gives me hope. lol.

III

I saw a link to a post Fr. Z wrote on his blog about how people (who are in need of prayers) are actually talking about how they're waiting for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to die. What?! I'm a big Papa Bene fangirl so... this does not compute. I dislike that they've nicknamed him "The Rat"... which is actually something my super liberal former professor (who's a nun) used to call him; "a big Rat with red shoes." I still have the dates on which she called him that; I kept a record of everything. Everything. Anyway, as Fr. Z suggested, please pray for these men and those who have similar trains of thought.

Lesson learned: I don't know if I learned a lesson here but I did learn I need to pray for two more people (who I don't know). I seriously cannot imagine disliking someone so much I want them to die. I can't even imagine disliking someone enough to wish them ill. That's just... yikes. Also, pray for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. He may not be our active Pope but he still needs prayers. :)

And that's all for this week. I hope y'all are having a good week thus far... and aren't as scatterbrained as I am. I seriously thought today was Thursday for some reason so I had to rename this blog post. Oops. :D

As always, thanks for reading and God bless. :D

What I Learned Wednesday #28: Colds, St. Joseph, and Prayers.

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My apologies for not blogging. I know I said I was going to blog every day during Lent but I didn't anticipate getting a really nasty cold which I am still trying to shake. I spent most of Friday and all of Saturday and Sunday in bed. I had a low-grade fever all day Saturday so my planned trip to the L.A. Religious Education Congress was nixed (as was the St. Patrick's Day trip to Disneyland, *sniffle*). I'm sorry to all who were planning on the meet up that day.

Also, a massive "thank you" to Dustin and Allicia of The Catholic Lovebirds who sent me a delicious lunch on Sunday. After not eating well for several days, it was a God send. It's good to be reminded that my friends have my back.

Lesson learned: as my mom likes to remind me, "el hombre pone y Dios dispone"... or Proverbs 16:1 if you can't read Spanish.

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As most of you know (or should know, tsk ;D), it is the feast day of St. Joseph. This day has been huge for me. While I failed to complete the novenas to St. Patrick (on the last day! argh!) and St. Benedict, I managed to get the one for St. Joseph done last night. It was the only one I managed to get through even when I was uber fatigued and was falling asleep while praying... in between sniffles. I also had my first PTSD therapy session (yes, I was re-diagnosed with it after last month's incident) and I received my very first (blessed, no less!) Miraculous Medal in the mail today. Score one for the Em-ster. Yeah, no one call me that. Please. lol.

I've always found St. Joseph intriguing because there's not a whole lot about him in the Bible but the little that we do have speaks volumes about who he was. In fact, I've decided to learn more about St. Joseph during Lent. He was a wonderful adoptive father to Jesus and he's been an excellent one to me as well. I hope that he'll be intercede for me because my intentions (one for a friend and another for myself) are quite large and somewhat complicated. May God's will be done.

Lesson to be learned: Try to learn as much as I can about St. Joseph during Lent.

III

If you're wondering the current state of my prayer life: um, let's just say that I will be uber embarrassed at tomorrow's meeting with my spiritual director. It's not that I didn't try... I just think I didn't try hard enough. I talked about this last week. I was so determined to get my prayer life back on track last week and then... hello, Mr. Nasty Cold who is currently overstaying his visit. I missed morning prayer most of the days that I was sick because I slept through the morning. I would stay up coughing all night that I would get up shortly before noon when I would take a nap. One of the days I missed the entire day of prayer except for the St. Joseph novena -- that was the day of the fever. I know I shouldn't be too hard on myself but I am because I could've done better the days when I wasn't sick.

Lesson learned: procrastination, especially with prayers, stinks. Don't make my mistakes, kids. I'm a terrible example these days. *dramatically* I have failed! lol. Seriously, though, I hope some of you are having more success during Lent than I am. :D

Anyway, that's it for now. I just had a marathon of coughing fits while writing this (and I'm functioning on less than 5 hours of sleep) so please excuse typos and grammatical errors that may have slipped by me. I am trying to get better at fixing those before I hit "publish."

I hope y'all are having a great week thus far!

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

What I Learned Wednesday #27: Saints, Litanies, and Prayer Procrastination

1) I learned something that I found kind of cool regarding one of my favorite saints, St. Benedict of Nursia. I've been learning more about the old calendar of feast days and saw that St. Benedict's old feast day is March 21st (btw, novena starts today) and his new feast day is July 11th. Why is it interesting? Because my dad was born the day after his old feast day and he passed away on the day of his new feast day. In a weird day, I feel more connected to St. Benedict because of this cool coincidence. It's up there with my birthday being the same day as St. Ferdinand of Castille's feast day. I'll explain the connection to that one on my birthday. ;)

2) My spiritual director mentioned to me the Litany of Thanksgiving which I had never heard about until last month. I tried to look for it but only found it at Catholic Doors. Does anyone have a different version of it? If so, please send it my way. If this is the correct version, someone please let me know. Again, I am not sure so... you know... please help a sister out. lol.

3) As some of you noticed, I did not blog yesterday... but I had a very good reason. I was feeling so terrible that I slept almost all day. I certainly spent most of the day in bed. Anyway, I didn't do morning prayers yesterday and that frustrated me because I could have done it earlier, when I wasn't feeling as fatigued and sick. This is one of the biggest problems that I have -- procrastination. I always think I will have time to do it "a little later" and then, sometimes, things get in the way and then I don't have time. It's incredibly annoying. This Lent I want to work on my prayer procrastination. I hate to admit it but I totally failed again this morning because I was sleep deprived and hungry (no food in the house). By the time I got up, I was ready to rush to get some fast food before my doctor's appointment. I know, there are so many wrong things with that. lol. Someone (who knows me well enough to do so) needs to get on my case about this until I get the hang of it.

And that's it for now. I'm still not feeling 100% so please excuse the shorter than usual blog posts until I'm feeling better. :D

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

What I Learned Wednesday #26: Forgiveness, Charity, and Babies!

1) I know many of you are wondering how I've been doing since last Friday's library incident. The answer is: I'm doing perfectly fine despite my history of anxiety. I was super nervous about going out on Saturday... until I went to confession and Mass. The first half of the day I was consumed with anxiety. I shook at the thoughts of having to go grocery shopping with my mom because it was not far from the library. I was unsure if I could drive out to confession and Mass (and I even thought I wasn't going to make it to either) but something within me kept saying "you have to go, Emmy! You cannot afford to not go! GO!" I teared up because I was scared but, at the same time, I have the most intense desire to go. I ended up biting the bullet and I drove mom and I to confession. It was the best decision I could've made because, during confession, I got the sudden idea to forgive the young man. I confessed that I had called him a "psycho" (which, however you slice it, wasn't too charitable) and the idea of forgiveness popped into my head. I mean, I wasn't angry at him and I felt sorry for him, but I hadn't forgiven him. After confession, I knelt down in front of the tabernacle and I prayed for him as I forgave him. Holy Spirit, you're totally getting the credit for that one... and for my sanity staying intact since! Lesson learned: forgiveness heals more than simply pitying the person who caused damage.

2) Speaking of praying for others, I found this website that gave me a very good idea that I wanted to share with y'all. How many of you prayer for people you don't know on a regular basis? How many of you do acts of anonymous charity? Want to kill two birds with one stone? Check out the website Emotional Baggage Check. This website allows you to "check" your baggage (meaning you can vent or cry about whatever is on your mind) or "carry it" for someone else (meaning you read a stranger's "baggage" and reply with words of encouragement). This gave me the idea of "carrying" another person's "baggage" and praying for them in the process. It isn't a religious website so there will be people who don't believe in God... but who says that you can't pray for them anyway? There's so much hate in this world, why not brighten a person's day with words of encouragement? Lesson learned: prayers for anonymous strangers who are having a tough time are good ways of doing acts of charity.

3) Okay, so, I technically promised I wasn't going to blog specifics about what happened on Monday so I can't give details but, I will say... please don't give a devout single gal in her late 20s the advice to have a baby "even if it's from a lab" because her biological clock is ticking. Yes, I received this advice as well as the additional words that "it doesn't matter if you're not married and you just use the guy to have the child; just have a child before you're old and alone." I was shocked when I heard it. I don't know if it's because of how seriously I take the Sacrament of Marriage, because I know that you cannot be selfish when it comes to having children, or because, like I said, I take my faith seriously, but I was not happy. It was rude, unsolicited advice that is just terrible. Look, I know that my "clock is ticking" (I'm turning 29 in May; I get it) and all but I have faith in God. I know my vocation is of wife and mother but I'm not going to rush Him. All in God's time. Lesson learned: I take my vocation far more seriously than others seem to do; I'm grateful that I am able to remind myself that things will happen in God's time and not mine.

And those are my three things that I learned this week. Nothing about the Faith, per se, but close enough. ;)

I hope you're having a good week thus far. If you have prayer intentions, send them my way. ;)

As always, thanks for reading and God bless!

What I Learned Wednesday #25: Not a Valentine's Grinch Edition

First What I Learned Wednesday post of the year. Let's go!

1.) I'd like to clear something up regarding my Valentine's Day tweet last night: I am not a Valentine's Day Grinch. I am not bitter that I'm currently single. I'm actually enjoying my singlehood whilst future fella arrives. I love love. I am all for falling in love. I even helped organized a card exchange between single girl friends so that no one would feel bad last year. I don't like it being called "Singles Awareness Day." At the same time, I am not a fan of how commercialized the day is. I've been saying this since 2008 when I actually had a fella. That blog post was written by a 22 year-old me (yes, I'm that old, lol)... and my thoughts have not changed since. Things seem to cost more than usual for this day. Both guys and gals (but, let's be honest, more so guys than gals) get pressured into making a huge romantic gesture on the day. That doesn't sound romantic to me; it sounds like it's rather forced. Sure, I like receiving flowers as much as the next girl but I'd personally prefer a guy send/give them to me because they felt like it and not because it was expected of them. I have other thoughts on the day which I've written about it as recent as last year.

And I can tie this to Catholicism easily: Valentine's Day reminds me of the efforts. St. Valentine did -- risking death -- to marry couples when it was illegal to do so. St. Valentine reminds me of love... which reminds me of the constant love I feel from both God and Mama Mary. So the day is spent (regardless of whether I have a significant other or not) focused on the love I receive from them as well as my friends and family. See? No Grinch-ing from me; I just look at things differently. You have all learned something new (instead of the other way around). Now that that's been settled, can y'all start being nice to me again? I'd appreciate it. lol.

2.) This may get a huge eye-roll for those of you who are more savvy about all things Catholic but I'm still learning so this made me really excited a couple of weeks ago. As I was praying the Luminous Mysteries in front of the tabernacle, I realized that they (the mysteries) represented the Sacraments we Catholics receive. First mystery: Baptism. Second: Marriage. Third: Reconciliation. Fourth: Confirmation. Fifth: Communion. I know; there's 7 Sacraments so I'm missing Holy Orders and Anointing of the Sick. I was so excited at this revelation (which I figured out on my own, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I'm sure) that I came home and Googled it just to make sure. Sure enough, I had been right. And now every Thursday I can pray the Rosary and focus on the significance of each other mysteries in a whole new way. For the record, I could be wrong about what each mystery represents; it's what I figured out. Someone correct me if one or more is wrong.

3.) As a future speech therapist (who will also be learning a bit of audiology), I loved hearing the news that a priest invented a confessional tool for the deaf! I've been saving this article as well, because it was something that I learned since the last WILW post and I thought it was pretty darn important. I've seen a sign language interpreter in Mass at only one parish in L.A. and it's always made me wonder if other deaf Catholics have the same assistance elsewhere around the world. Mass is such a beautiful thing that it would be a shame for others to miss it because of disabilities and/or conditions. This is coming from someone who would, once upon a time, go months without attending a single Mass due to her anxiety order.

And that's all. Short(-ish) and sweet. I have a ton of things to do so... I should probably go do them now. lol.

I hope you all have a great rest of week. And someone please poke me if I take more than 2-3 days to publish a new blog post. I definitely have the time to do so these days. :)

7 Quick Takes Vol. 12: Blog Anniversary Edition

-- 1 --

As many of you know, Christmas Day is also this blog's anniversary. However, I don't think my blogging anniversary is bigger than the reason for the season (Happy Birthday, Jesus!) so I didn't mention it on the post I wrote that day. Anyway, this year marked the 6th anniversary of this blog (it was created before midnight, on the 25th). Crazy. Even crazier to think about how much I've grown in the past 6 years... and how I've blogged for the majority of my 20s. I wonder how many more years I can keep it up...

-- 2 --

Some of you who read Monday's blog post have been wondering if I went through with wearing a mantilla to Christmas Mass (I have been asked since the day of) and the answer is: YES! It felt so good to not only attend Mass (haven't gone the past years due to illness or transportation issues) but to also wear the mantilla. I felt a bit self-conscious at first (due to previous experience) but, thankfully, the parishioners where I attend Mass are so lovely that I felt at peace. In fact, I saw two other veiling ladies (a mother and her young daughter) and another mother said to her little girls "oh, look! she's veiling!" in a manner that made me feel really nice. Also, who knew mantillas were such guy magnets? I'm talking to you, dude who kept looking at me throughout Mass a few pews in front of me. 'Sup? lol.

-- 3 --

This Christmas marked the 5th one we celebrated without my father (he died in mid 2009). Though it was hard, it was the first time that we weren't sad little pandas. Of course we still feel his death but we can now look back (and talk about him) in a way that celebrates his life instead of mourning his passing. I'm calling it a Christmas Day miracle.

-- 4 --

Is it weird that I was kind of bummed that I couldn't do a What I Learned Wednesday post this week? Yep. I won't be able to next Wednesday either as it's New Year's Day and I try to save those days for other things. I have a lot of awesome things to share but I must wait a couple of days. You'll see the post eventually... and you'll see why I felt like a kid on Christmas when I learned something about the faith (on my own!) that I had confirmed as true. ;)

-- 5 --

I finally got through the novena of this blog's patron saint for 2013, Mary, Undoer of Knots. I finished it (and two others) on Christmas Eve. It was a hard one to get through. I basically had something go wrong on almost every single day that I did the novena. It was like a mini-version of the 54 Day Rosary Novena in which everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. I'm proud of myself for sticking it out though I was tempted to stop a couple of times. Seriously, I almost stopped on the last day as I felt faint, I was sweating cold, and I felt like my anxiety was out of control while I prayed it in front of the tabernacle. Still, I stuck it out and I would do it again... and most likely will.

-- 6 --

Friendly reminder that it's STILL CHRISTMAS. Yes, I had to bold and capitalize it. I know that (in Los Angeles) KOST 103.5 stopped playing music yesterday but it's still Christmas time for us Catholics. Christmas doesn't end (at least not liturgically) until the Octave of the Epiphany (the Baptism of the Lord) but it will continue being Christmastide until Candlemas. Who's up for celebrating until February 2nd? lol.

-- 7 --

And here's one of my favorite works of art of baby Jesus, found of tumblr. I wish I could frame this. If anyone knows who the original artist is, let me know!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Anyway, I'm starting my annual clean-a-thon super late this year (today!) and I have less than 5 days to finish so... I need to go get started like right now. ;)

I hope y'all had a lovely Christmas Day. :D

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

What I Learned Wednesday #24: End of Year of Faith Edition

1) Looking back on the Year of Faith, I feel like I can personally call it a success as I learned quite a bit about the Faith. However, I was sad to see how many people began the year excited and how almost everyone seemed to ignore it at the end. Maybe it's just my group of friends (online and offline) but I didn't see many people reflect or even given a hoot about the end of the Year of Faith. Why is that? Okay, I totally dropped the ball more than once on my What I Learned Wednesday posts but I still tried. And, okay, I also didn't finish reading the Catechism but I'm still reading it at the moment. That is a goal that I still have time for (giving myself until the last day of the year). The main thing is that I tried from start to finish. I think the effort is what counts. My curiosity and love of learning new things was definitely awakened this year and it's just going to continue. So, hooray Year of Faith!

2) I also recently noticed that I have received 5 of the Seven Sacraments. Here's my list:
a) Baptism: September 1st, 1985.
b) Holy Communion/Eucharist: May 21, 1994 (First Communion). I try to receive Eucharist as frequently as possible.
c) Reconciliation/Confession: Approx. April 1994 (first). I still go at least once every two weeks when I'm not sick. 
d) Confirmation: November 22, 1998.
e) Marriage: TBD.
f) Holy Orders: The one I'll never receive.
g) Anointing of the Sick: May 10, 2013.

I obviously won't receive Holy Orders but, God willing, I will receive the 6th and last Sacrament (Marriage) at some point in my lifetime. I think this is pretty cool.

3) Who didn't see the MSM's shoddy reporting on Pope Francis' Evangelii Gaudium coming? Y'all (MSM) are so predictable. Mom and I watched Spanish language news yesterday (as I get enough of the English language news online) and it was pretty much the same thing. "*gasp* Pope Francis declares war on materialism!" "Pope Francis is implementing new changes that will rock the Church, only at 6 p.m.!" I think mom and I become Statler and Waldorf whenever any new report on the Catholic Church comes on because it's always so cringe worthy. You don't do your jobs, news reporters. You try to lie to the audience on the actual facts. We get it. Yawn. I'm actually going to read the Spanish-language version of Evangelii Gaudium (thank you, mom and dad, for raising me bilingual) because I heard Pope Francis originally wrote it in Spanish. That and I've heard people complain that the English version is a poor translation. *shrugs* I'll keep y'all posted on that.

Anyway, that's it for now. I am almost caught up on NaNoWriMo (I should be at 45,000 words today and I'm currently at 44,862) so I'm going to do that tonight. I hope to finish the required 50,000 words by Friday. It's doable since I average 4,000 words per day and my record has been 7,000 words in a single night. And to think that some of y'all called me a quitter! ;)

I hope y'all have a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving Day! I am definitely thankful for each and every one of you who are sharing this journey with me. ;)

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

7 Quick Takes Vol. 9: Jumble Edition

-- 1 --

I have not given up on blogging! I told y'all that NaNoWriMo would mean less posts than usual because I'd be focused on the novel. However, I had an epiphany these past days that basically boils down to "NaNoWriMo is not as important to me as my Faith"... which, I am ashamed to admit, I have not been horrible at. So NaNoWriMo is now on the backburner (though I do still write) to everything else. I won't let me competitiveness get the best of me. This also means: expect more blog posts from me before the month ends.

-- 2 --

Like I said, I've been neglecting my "Catholic" side... and this is what I was worried about when I chose to do speech therapy. I've been so busy (volunteering, writing, taking care of my sick mama) that prayer and everything else is sort of pushed back. Not intentionally but I don't like it. Now I have to figure out how to do everything whilst keeping my prayer life up. I've never had to juggle so many things at once (at least, not since my reversion) so it'll be an interesting challenge. Still, not giving up on my faith.

-- 3 --

I promise never to post inside jokes on Twitter again. I did last night and I got grief for it. I will say this, though: it's a sad day when I cannot make a joke that a few people will get a kick out of because others take everything I say literally... and then put words into my mouth. Seriously, not worth it. Next time it happens (that people misinterpret what I say and then pretty much call me a liar because they misinterpreted me), I'm not returning from Narnia. Just send my mail and everything else to Cair Paravel, 'kay?

-- 4 --

For those of you who were worried about me after my last What I Learned Wednesday post, I'm happy to report that there will be no danger there. I was just informed that, since I cannot get the flu shot (allergic to eggs) and I cannot wear a mask whilst volunteering, I cannot go back until March. It's a hospital and they don't want me exposed to viruses and vice versa during flu season. Problem solved. lol.

-- 5 --

I officially have all of my Advent things ready to go. Bought the candles for the Advent wreath last week and had been getting a couple of other things over the last couple of months so I'm ready. Now if I can just convince mom to get a little Christmas tree (she doesn't like them), I can get ready for Christmas season...

-- 6 --

My dear friend, Kathryn, had her baby girl today and I couldn't be more excited for her. :D She already has a little boy, Adam (who actually inspired me to become a speech therapist), but I know her little girl is just going to bring so much joy to her family. And, because I know many of you are military wives, I'm also going to pass along the fact that her e-book, Journey Through Deployment, is now out for y'all to read. She didn't ask me to plug it; I just wanted to because she's been a great friend for many years. :D

-- 7 --

Speaking of e-books... I decided to get my novels self-published. After seeing (and hearing) how much better it is from both Kathryn and Nancy, I've decided to take this path. The novels will be published as e-books for the time being. Yes, I do find it ironic that I've chosen the medium that I don't like (seriously, I still don't like e-books) to get published. Judge away! lol. So far I will say that I'm not far from moving forward and that I've gotten good responses from three friends (two ladies and a dude) who have read the entire first novel. More details (hopefully) coming soon. ;)

And that's all for now. I'm gonna go... write or watch a movie. I haven't decided yet. ;)

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

What I Learned Wednesday #23: Married Men and Temptations Edition

This post was originally going to be a follow up to last week's Speedy Questions post but I've had a very interesting week (blog post title should give you hints) so I'll write about that instead. I think it's more important to share some things that I realize that some of y'all also go through but don't talk about. Some of you may be uncomfortable with the topics but I haven't seen them posted anywhere and I know I cannot be the only person who goes through these things.

1.) As a single young woman who knows her vocation but has yet to find that special fella, it's very easy to fall into different types of temptations. You guys know I'm notoriously private about my relationships and this part of my life but I need to share this. During the volunteer work I've been doing lately, I met a nice fella with whom I could easily talk to because our personalities and temperaments just click. He is (to a T) the kind of guy that I like (except for the "he's not Tom Hiddleston" part, lol). My mom likes him, his mom likes me... so what's the problem? He's married! I knew this beforehand because my mom told me a long time ago so I was cautious. I am not the type of person to break up a relationship (even if it's just dating) so I made sure I didn't do anything that would be inappropriate. The moment he said something that let me know there was interest on his side, I avoided the guy as much as I could. I don't know his wife but I respect his mother, myself, and the sanctity of marriage to put either of us into any further temptation.

I know some of you will get upset at me for saying that I avoided him because I did nothing wrong, but that's the thing -- I could easily fall into temptation myself. I'm not saying I would ever go there (I wouldn't) but why push my luck? I'm a human being and I make stupid mistakes all the time. Guys aren't one of them (hi, still single here, lol) but that's not to say that I'm not susceptible to it not happening to me. The devil is sneaky; he'll find a way to turn something innocent into a terrible temptation. And, for the record, yes, for a split second some thoughts did enter my mind but I quickly recognized them and knew that they were not the type of thoughts I would normally have. I said the prayer to St. Michael Archangel and then spoke to the priest in the confessional about it (it all happened on a Saturday).

2.) What I'm trying to get at with this example is that, we single young women (and men!) need to be very careful to avoid temptation. My temptation could've easily become letting him appeal to whatever vanity I have by letting him (inappropriately) compliment me and call me beautiful (which he did). My temptation could've been making excuses for his actions because of the attention I was getting. My temptation could've been letting him commit adultery in his heart by letting myself stick around. Again, some of you may have issues with the way I phrased that last sentence but it is what it is. I have as much responsibility as he does to help each other avoid any kind of temptation. And I know some of you have been there or have been on the other end. I've heard of friends who have had their spouses hit on by coworkers, etc. It's terrible. I've seen relationships and marriages broken up because of people who have either simply tempted someone to be unfaithful (though it never went far enough) or have flat out broken up relationships.

3.) I see so many young woman (and men, I see y'all on Twitter, too) lamenting being single and having a deep desire to have any sort of attention that they don't even realize what harm they could be doing to themselves and others. I have amazing guy friends, many of whom are married at this point as we're mostly between mid-late 20s to early 30s. I know and am friends with their wives. They have my back (and act like big brothers) and I have theirs. I love them all (platonically) but there's a fine line that cannot be crossed. Even if they're just dating, there's a fine line between friendship and flirting that is clearly drawn. If I feel like one of them is dangerously close to that line (and it has happened), I make sure my actions speak for themselves. I pull back and even cut off all contact from them if necessary. If they don't get it, I will spell it out for them as bluntly as I am able to with my Jane Bennet tendencies. As I like to say, "homegirl don't play that."

I hope this post didn't seem like I am full of conceit and think of myself as someone who can cause temptation 'cause I don't. In fact, I am actually surprised I had this happen to me. I actually wanted to ask the guy what he was smoking when he said I was beautiful but I opted to pretend that I hadn't heard him and I physically removed myself from where he was.

I wrote this post because I've seen and heard it happen to others and I just want some people to know that no amount of flattery is worth causing problems. Even the nicest person can have a moment of weakness and make a huge mistake. Like I said, temptation will present itself whenever it gets a chance so we must be on our guard. I am just grateful that I have amazing spiritual direction, great friends who pray for me (and I did let two friends know about my predicament as it happened) and that God has blessed me with a hyper awareness of things (except when single guys are flirting with me; I'm clueless then. lol).

Anyway, that's all for now. I am super behind on NaNoWriMo (volunteer work, errands, and illness -- grr!) and I want to get some work done before the CMAs. Go Hunter Hayes (even if I am not even sure he's nominated for anything. lol).

I hope y'all have had a great week thus far. :)

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

What I Learned Wednesday #22: Speedy Questions Edition

It's 11:21 p.m. PST. It's still Wednesday in Los Angeles! This still counts! lol. This will be a very quick list since I got caught up in school stuff once again and I still need to do nighttime prayers. I was planning on doing it this way anyway, but now there will be more typos than usual. lol.

This week I'm focusing not on what I learned but what I hope to learn before next Wednesday... and I am making this list public so if I fail, I can say that I did (no lying allowed. ever.) and will learn to do a better job the weeks after that.

1. Is RCIA the same everywhere? Would it be the same in, let's say, London as it is in Los Angeles? I am a revert who was baptized at 3 months, did her first communion at 8 years-old, and was confirmed at 13 years-old. I have never needed to know about RCIA which is my excuse, as sorry as it may be. I know that confirmation in Mexico is done at younger ages (hence why I was confirmed at the "old" age of 13 and not 16, in the States, like I wanted) so I am wondering if RCIA is the same everywhere.

2. What major differences (if any) are there in how things are done in England and the U.S. in regards to how Mass is celebrated, etc? Seeing a pattern emerging? You caught me; this is all novel sequel research but, really, it would be awesome to find out if things are done the same or if I would need to learn how to phrase prayers differently.

3. How many Latin Masses are regularly offered in the Archdioceses of Westminster and Los Angeles? Again, novel research but I'd love to see the differences between both Archdioceses.

So, that is my quick list of questions I hope to have answers to next week. If anyone of you would like to help a sister out, let me know. lol.

And now it's 11:33 p.m. and I still have prayers to get through.

I hope y'all are having a great week thus far!

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless! :D

 

Best. Week. Ever. Thank you, God!

Isn't my new desktop crucifix pretty? It comes from the Holy Land. *insert Catholic fangirling squeals* 

Having a week that is packed with back-to-back good news and events is rare. However, I am declaring last week the "best week ever"... or at least of the past 4 years. So just what happened to make it the best week ever? I shall tell you.

I know y'all know about my big news from last week's What I Learned Wednesday post; that I was accepted to Utah State's Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education program. If you read the post you know that I'm only doing this in the meantime (the financial crunch in an expensive city is real, y'all) and that I will pursue a Master of Arts in Theology when things are a little more financially stable (and I am more prepared to teach or do something with the degree). That was huge... but then things got better.

On Thursday, I went in for my follow-up doctor's appointment. They made me wait nearly 3 months for my gluten test results. My doctor is actually new as my former doctor abruptly left so he didn't know I was supposed to get my results. I did ask him before I left and he said that they had come back negative. That means that after a three month Eucharist-free life, I can once again receive it.

I was on cloud 9 when I heard that. I had not attended daily Mass because I cried every time I went to Mass and couldn't receive the Eucharist in either form and going to daily Mass would've been torture for me (not to mention emotionally draining). And before you ask (and I got this asked a lot), I couldn't do wine because I had a bad reaction the last time I had done it. After you spend the day in bed with bodily aches, you tend to not try what made you sick again. I actually let my SD know at Mass yesterday and I think he was as stoked as I was because he saw how it drained me. 

So, daily Mass and communion starts again tomorrow. I couldn't yesterday because I haven't gone to confession in two weeks and I missed Mass last Sunday so I didn't feel right receiving (even though I was sick last Sunday). Thankfully my parish has confessions 4 times a week so I can go tomorrow. :D Odds are I will cry tears of joy. Y'all don't know just how much I ache (yes, ache; sounds dramatic but I don't know how else to describe it) for the Eucharist. Sure, I offered it up but to be able to receive again is amazing.

And then on Saturday came a huge day for me. As many of you know, I have so much respect for Patrick Madrid for several reasons. He gave me my first real break as a writer by publishing two of my articles in Envoy Magazine (issues 9.3 and 10.1). Not only that, he kept in touch with me while I was at my horrible CINO college alma mater and offered me the support I needed to get through it in one piece. He's sort of like a second dad (and I've even jokingly asked him to adopt me) and I feel blessed. 

Patrick talking about why he's Catholic. Taken from the merch table where I was hanging out.

Well, this past Saturday I was finally able to meet him in person for the first time since I "met" him online over 4 years ago. He was a speaker at the Catholic apologetics conference that was held at the St. Joseph Center in Alhambra (run by the wonderful Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles). I didn't get to talk to him for long but I was happy for the time we did get to chat. (side note: For the record: no, I am not posting the picture that I took with Patrick because, as some of you know, I was threatened and it was substantial enough that it was decided that it was no longer safe for me to post any pictures of myself online.)

I did not stay for the entire conference (insert rant about the transportation network/system I use), I was able to stay for part of it and, I have to say, it definitely reminded me of why I love being Catholic. If you haven't gone to an event where he's speaking at, I highly recommend you do. The "okay, young lady, Theology as soon as possible" feeling definitely burned brighter in my heart. I know God wants me to do something for the Church but I also know He wants me to take care of other things before I can do this.

By the end of the week (Sunday) I was feeling pretty awesome. I had an amazing week and it ended with me getting a crucifix from the Holy Land *points to first picture in post*. All of this got me thinking about how I may never not think that everything happens for a reason.

I have this motto for whenever I feel like the world is crumbling around me: we go through hard times because something wonderful is coming up and it'll make us appreciate it that much more. I truly believe this. I have been struggling with stomach problems for over a year now yet and, as part of doctor tests, I couldn't receive the Eucharist for a couple of months. If I loved it (Eucharist) before, I am even more enamoured with it now. I struggled at a terrible school where professors made me feel like I was a thorn in their side and was nothing but an unwanted pest, and I got accepted (in three days!) to my top choice for my pre-MA SLP program.

All I could do during Mass was smile and thank Him for all the blessings he had bestowed on me last week. I try to thank Him for everything that has happened in the past but all these things have made me even more hyper-aware of all the blessings I get, whether or not they are good. Even the bad things have a silver lining that show God's love for us.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this all with you. I also want to thank all of you who have consistently prayed for me; for my health, for my school situation, etc. I couldn't have gotten to where I am without y'all. :)

That's it for now. I have a couple of things to do -- including planing a wedding before next Friday. Yep. Last minute plans though this has been a wedding in the making for several years now. A bit of a headache but it's a fun one and I get to look at beautiful churches in England soon. ;)

I hope y'all had a wonderful weekend and have a fantastic week this week.

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

What I Learned Wednesday #21: Big News Edition

1) If you haven't already heard via the blog's FB page or my Twitter account, here is my big news: I was formally accepted into Utah State University's Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education program. That's a mouthful. lol. I received an email yesterday (almost as soon as I woke up) congratulating me. It was extra special (for me) to have received the news yesterday, too. As I tweeted,

Well, got a rose from St. Therese (about school) on her feast day and was accepted on St. Teresa of Avila's feast day. Well played. lol.
— Emmy Cecilia (@nerdwriter) October 15, 2013

If you've been a reader since the blog's first year (some of you have stuck around these past - almost - 6 years), you know that I have a special devotion to St. Teresa of Avila ever since I had that dream about her. I'm a big fan of the Discalced Carmelites as well so yesterday was the perfect day for the news. I have a feeling I'm going to have her and St. Therese (and the Immaculate Heart of Mary) on my mind throughout the entire program since I did novenas to all three of them (though not all for school) during the entire application to decision process.

2) If you're wondering if this means I'm giving up on my Theology M.A. or on writing about Catholicism because I'll be focusing on Speech-Language Pathology, the answers is a big NO. As I posted a couple of weeks ago (after my big post on my fears about doing a "secular" job), I feel like this is where God wants me now. I really need to strengthen my knowledge of theology before I can hope to either teach it or do something with it. The plan is that I will do Speech-Language Pathology first and then do Theology due to familial and financial responsibilities that I have. Of course, now my journey will include me trying to incorporate what I learn as a speech therapist into my faith (and vice versa) so there will always be new material to cover in the blog. It will be a challenge as I was told how intense SLP programs can be but nothing worth having or doing is easy (even trying to lead a holy life is hard with all the temptations to sin) so it'll be good for me to try to find a good balance between school/career and faith. God and my faith are the most important things in my life (though, obviously, God trumps all) so it'll be interesting to see what happens.

3) I don't start my classes until next May (first time in years I'll have classes on my birthday) so I will have time to focus on my CINO college project. And, actually, after the response about submitting stories from elementary school through high school, I decided to open it up to submissions at any and all grade levels as long as they took place at CINO schools. We really need to do something about this horrible epidemic... and it is an epidemic at this point. I've seen well education young women get their orthodox beliefs warped by liberation theology and I can only guess that there must be schools that start their students with some terribly unorthodox beliefs/theology as well. So, please, submit any and all stories you have so we can make a stronger case against funding and/or sending students to these so-called "Catholic" schools. There are so many good school that are faithful yet struggle to remain open. It's really a pity and I really want to help as much as I can. The first posts regarding this will start next week.

I'm seriously behind on reading so I'm going to go do that. I've just started feeling better from the stress so I'm going to try to continue trying to relax until the knots in my shoulders are gone. :) 

Oh! There is a chance of potentially having good news tomorrow morning (that involves finally being able to receive the Eucharist for the first time since early June) so please say a little prayer for me if you can.

That's it for now. :D I hope y'all have been having a great week thus far. :D

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

What I Learned Wednesday #20: "Traddie" Edition

Before I get any crumbs from anyone:

1) I don't like putting labels on Catholicism (okay, fine, I like using "orthodox" -- small o) but for this post I'll use "traddie" to mean fans of pre-OF Mass/Vatican II (I can feel some of you cringing) Catholicism.

2) Yes, I'm a "traddie" in the sense that I love wearing a mantilla, attending daily Mass, prefer using the Douay-Rheims Bible, think Latin Mass is wonderful (yes, I've attended), and adore Gregorian chant. See how I keep using "traddie" with quotations? Yeah, don't hate.

And now this week's (quick) WILW items.

1) Did y'all know that there is an online bookstore that carries only traditional Catholic books? Oh yeah!! I was very excited to find Baronius Press Ltd. I think I'm even more excited to finally find a good copy of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which I pray daily. I was enrolled in the Brown Scapular last year; I take my commitments seriously and reading the Little Office is amongst the requirements. ;) I can't tell you how many books that I have been wanting (but couldn't find good copies of) have made it onto my Christmas and birthday wishlist. For the record, a gentle reminder that my half-birthday is coming up next month. Just putting it out there in case my brother stumbles onto this post. lol. ;)

2) I found a great tumblr blog named Trad Catholic Problems that has some awesome memes. My top three memes at the moment are:







Okay, I can't relate to the last one (though I would totally do it!!) but definitely the first two. I have gotten comments of thinking myself holier than others (and other not so nice comments; hello, CINO college survivor, err, graduate) for wearing a mantilla. Seriously, I just think it's a beautiful tradition; covering our heads as a sign of respect towards our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. If it was good enough for my paternal grandmother (whom everyone says I take after), it's good enough for me. Also, I fangirl every time I see nuns wearing their habits at Mass, at the grocery store, or even at Disneyland.

3) I didn't learn this but I still haven't figured out why there's such a fuss made when a young Catholic (especially fellow Millennials) say they like "traditional" Catholicism. As I mentioned earlier, I love a lot of "traddie" things. This doesn't mean that I think of myself as holier or superior to others. Some of my fondest childhood memories include attending Mass with my mantilla-wearing paternal grandmother (may God rest her soul) in the small town where my dad was raised in. My prized possession is the mantilla my father bought for me only 4 months before he passed. I wish I could attend Latin Mass more often but the nearest parish that offers it weekly, St. Therese in Alhambra, is a bit of a drive for me and I have yet to get comfortable driving on the freeways. I think Venerable Fulton Sheen is fantastic. I hate clapping in Mass. I like my Masses solemn. These are just my preferences.

There is a rise in numbers that are preferring this "route." Latin Mass attending, "bead rattling", communion via tongue only Catholics, especially amongst those in our 20s and early 30s, are even gaining momentum in Los Angeles from what I've seen in my circle of friends and acquaintances. I don't have a link on hand (the one with the actual stats) but I'll post it when I find it. Anyway, someone please tell me what's so shocking about this. Please. Some of us are just drawn to it; no need to make a stink about it.

I was so not in the mood to blog (I want to get back to my book!) but I decided to take one for the team and write this quick post. By the way, I don't know which team. I just wanted to use the idiom. ;)

Alright, it's cold and raining (read: perfect book reading, tea drinking weather) so I'm going to enjoy it while we have it. I am seriously loving learning about all the married saints and blesseds and have been trying to do everything early so I have more time to read. So many saints I didn't know existed but have amazing and inspiring stories. :D

I hope you're all having a good week thus far. :D

As always, thanks for reading and God bless. :D

What I Learned Wednesday #19: Saints in Love Edition

I finally finished this book (Saints in Love by Carole Hallundbaek) on Monday night (whoo!) and now I can do a sort-of review through my What I Learned Wednesday post. I usually just post 3 short things I learned about the Faith during the week but there's so much to cover that I'm going to make them a little bit longer than usual.

1. I may have a reputation of being a sort of "patron saint encyclopedia", but I really don't know much about the many of the saints' lives. I may know who is the patron saint of specific things but I don't know their life stories. I loved the last chapter of the book, which focused on the relationship between St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal. I even sent this note to myself that night, before I forgot:

"It is a strong yet peaceful desire to learn about and from them (St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal) as I think they may be the ones who will be amongst those who will help me in my next chapter in life."

I was reading about all the wonderful things that all the saints featured (St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare, St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, St. Catherine of Siena and Pope Gregory XI, and St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal) had accomplished but I knew little about their actual lives. The book did cover the basics but I did know the basics of about half of them so it wasn't anything new for me. Now I have a desire to learn more, especially on the ones that inspired me this week.

2. I like learning about my saints without having sex come into it. Yes, it's been established that I'm a "prude" (and proud) but I don't actually see sex as a bad thing. In a Theology of the Body way, it's a good thing (from what I've read). In a lustful, bow-chicka-wow-wow way, not so much. There were a couple of times that I felt the author was trying way too hard to bring sex into the relationship between the two saints she was featuring. I'm not saying that the Evil One hadn't tempted them (I don't know that) but it wasn't even that. I actually read some parts to my friend Delaney (when she was visiting a couple of weeks ago) and she agreed that it was all just unnecessary and uncomfortable. As someone who has a lot of guy friends whom I respect and don't look at as more than brothers (and vice versa), I didn't appreciate some of the things that were written. It IS possible to have a friendship with a member of the opposite sex without any funny business.

That being said, there were some things about sex that the author talked about that I liked. There was a quote she added that I really liked; "Celibacy is not about never falling in love, it's about falling in love over and over and over again." (pg. 46) I understood and appreciate that. Like I said, sex is not a bad thing. I'm obviously not talking from experience but I've read enough on the Sacrament of Marriage to not be (entirely) freaked out about it. lol. Just, please keep it away from my saints that were friends and respected each other. Please. No need to bring it up unnecessarily.

3. I might have found the right Third/Lay Order for myself thanks to this book. I've looked into (but only superficially) a plethora of Third/Lay Orders but none have really touch me the way the Salesian spirituality did. I haven't really learned much about it (other than they are called Salesian Cooperators) but what I did read made me think that it may be the right one for me. I still have to look into it but, as I have already said, I was really inspired by St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal... and it's made me feel more confident and at peace about my decisions regarding my career choice and my vocation. In fact, I think I'm very ready for whenever God feels I should start the next chapter in my life. :)

That's what I learned on my journey of learning more about myself and the Faith this week. Like I said in the beginning of this post, there's so much to cover that it would be impossible to do so in a single blog post. I will say that I both liked and didn't like this book for the reasons I talked about. I learned a lot about myself, about the saints, and about the saints relationships with each other and with God.

I can't say whether I recommend this book or not. I mean, I liked a good portion of it but I really had a hard time getting through parts of it.

And now I'm going to go keep my eye on my cell phone because I'm on Bebe Baldwin watch and I don't want to miss anything. Please keep Julie in your prayers because it looks her baby wants to meet her and her husband soon!

As always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D

What I Learned Wednesday #18: Oops!, Ahh! and Eesh! Edition

These are actually from last week but since I didn't post anything last week (and haven't for a week due to busy schedule and illness), I am using them for this week's post.

1. You know how I love futbol (soccer) to the point where it's the only sport that I watch (well, aside from the occasional rugby match)? Well, when we cancelled cable in March I had to say goodbye to my beloved Fox Soccer (which is now defunct anyway) and other sports channels that aired live matches. I looked into paying to watch them online but they were either super expensive for only a handful of matches or I had to search for links from shady websites. I wondered (although I already had a feeling I knew the answer) about whether it would actually be considered a sin to watch live matches on dubious links. I asked Fr. John Flynn over at XT3 and the answer was a definite: YES! Sorry, fellow Catholics who offered to send me shady website links. Fr. Flynn quotes the CCC for y'all which states that "2408 The seventh commandment forbids theft, that is, usurping another's property against reasonable will of the owner." Any football (yes, that's what I call "soccer") fan knows that the FA, MLS, and other franchises give certain networks rights to air the matches (for a fee, of course) and that those networks retain the rights to air the matches. So by watching matches on feeds without permission of the networks is, in fact, a form of steal. You might've not been the one who hijacked the live feed but you're still watching it without permission. You're an accessory to the crime. I haven't watched any matches on shady links in ages but I have in the past so I need to add that to my list of things I need to confess this coming weekend when I head to the confessional. Oops!

2. Something I didn't know (hello, poorly Catechized and no good formal education on Catholicism) that most English-language Bibles aren't complete. Yes, I knew that Protestant/Christian Bibles left out many books that the Catholic Church still has but I didn't know that not all Catholic Bibles were complete. Yes, you read that right: things are missing! In my Catholic snobbery (yes, I'm a bit of a snob regarding certain things; sorry, I'm woman enough to own up to it), I've preferred the Douay-Rheims version but one that I don't actually own a copy (aside from the copy in my iPieta app). My spiritual director gave me the heads up that the versions of the Bible (while Catholic) were incomplete and pointed out the fact that, if I looked it up (and I did), I would see that only 9 of the 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit are listed in Galatians 5:22-23. I compared it to the Douay-Rheims version and, yes, it's true. The DR has all 12 listed while the other Bible I primarily used had only 9. Guess it's time to save up and get myself a more complete version. Side note: The Ignatius Study Bible was also recommended but much more expensive. Ahh!

3. As some of you may know, I made the official announcement regarding my MA decision on Twitter.

Okay, I'm making this Twitter official: I've chosen a Master of Arts in Theology. Thanks to @aquinonez for listening to me for weeks. lol.
— Emmy Cecilia (@nerdwriter) August 26, 2013

I did decide on getting my Master of Arts in Theology (I even finished most of my application to my top choice) but I've been getting hit with horrible indecision and anxiety since then. The anxiety is bad... to the point where I'm suffering both physically and mentally. I'm not sure if it's a spiritual attack or if it's just a sign that this is not the path I should take so please say a little prayer for me while I try to figure that out. All I know is that my heart says Theology and my head says Speech-Language Pathology... and my anxiety says "forget it, lady!" Eesh!

Anyway, it's super hot and muggy today and the laptop is burning my thighs so I need to shut this baby (laptop) down and go jump in the water to cool down a bit.

I hope y'all have had a great week thus far and continue to have a good (or have a better) week. :D

As always, thanks for reading and God bless!