Seven Quick Takes

by Shannon

"I have not been called to be successful, but to be faithful."

~Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

This is our blog's first dive into "Seven Quick Takes" with Jen Fulwiler at Conversion Diary. Knowing me, they won't be quick.

~1~

First off, this:

source: Catholic Memes

We will dearly miss him so, but he will continue to be an inspiration, which is such a blessing.

~2~

So, this happened tonight:

Yes, there was beer involved, but not nearly enough beer to justify it.

Speaking of beer, this is my companion tonight as I blog.

Ryan picked it out for me, this being his inspiration. Cruncher pretty much knows all the words to "The Saga Begins," because every 5-year-old Catholic boy should. 

~3~

This week is a break from school, so the before-and-after-school program asked us for $30 extra if we wanted Cruncher to attend a few field trips. I was thinking zoo (if we had a warm snap), art museum, science center. You know — the educational stuff.

Instead, he has gone to an animal shelter (not bad) and Build-A-Bear (pictured), and tomorrow is GattiLand. I repeat — GattiLand. For serious? It's the ghetto Chuck E. Cheese, and they call that a field trip? [Insert snarky comment about the public school system here.]

At least Cruncher likes his new bear, Nolen. (Yes, with an E.)

~4~

Got my boots! The brown ones are going back. But I'm getting the same pair. You see, I'm the type who examines things before I buy them, picking the item that looks least touched, and I refuse to buy something if there's anything that needs fixing. I always pull my groceries from the back of the shelf. So there are a couple things about the brown boots that aren't Just. Quite. Right. So, I'm going to give it another whirl. Kind of a gamble, but here's hoping. 

The black ones are great, though. 

Deets:

Cape: Vintage, consignment shop in town

Skirt, H&M, consignment shop in town

Tights: Target

Boots: Report, Zappos

Since it's the end of the season, I also bought a new coat. It's actually more of a fall-jacket weight, but I prefer my coats light for layering. 

I'm pleased as punch with it, and I've been able to test it out in the cold this week, since we had flurries twice! I was perfectly warm.

Deets:
Coat: Daughters of the Liberation, consignment shop in town

It was $30, and I gather the brand is sold by Anthropologie, so I'm pretty sure I got an amazing deal, especially since it looks as if it's never been worn.

~5~

I'm ahead of schedule on Easter prep because I'm actually using my planner this year. I'm usually scrambling through Holy Week, so I'm feeling pretty confident. We do a family basket instead of individuals, and I always fill it with books, so I went ahead to our favorite local book store yesterday to pick up everything. I can't enter that store without spending at least $20, and I found a couple additional non-religious books to give to Cruncher yesterday:

Cruncher's teacher has encouraged non-fiction stories since November, so the Ben Franklin book for $1 was a good find. Also, Ryan's had his eye on the Merriam-Webster Pictorial Dictionary for Cruncher, but thinks he might yet be too young for it. When I found this Mother Goose in Hieroglyphics book for $1.50, I knew Ryan would get a kick out of it. He actually said, "Oh, yay!" when I showed it to him. There's a key in the back to answer the picture riddles, so it'll be fun to see if we can guess the right words for the rhythms and rhymes. Also, Cruncher should be able to read most of the printed words on his own.

Next items on my Easter Preparation List: Cruncher's outfit (he wants a mis-matched suit), DIY plans for a door wreath and some sort of sacred artwork. I'm hoping for a new Stations of the Cross picture or a vintage icon of the Last Supper. I'd also like to get our front door painted before spring and start working on the garden around St. Patrick's Day.

~6~

It's Friday afternoon, and you realize you didn't plan head for your meatless meal. No worries — if you have a carton of eggs, you can make a frittata! A frittata is a fantastic way to clean out your fridge, getting rid of anything and everything that's about to go bad, or known as "borderline" in our house (commence singing Madonna here). Ryan and I love to serve frittata with tasty things, though, as we did this past Sunday. Here's the step-by-step, but you actually can use just about any combination of cheese, veggies and meat (or no meat) that you please.

Ingredients: Italian mix of shredded cheese, spinach (1 bag frozen or fresh), 9 eggs, 4 or 5 green onions, 4 oz. of goat cheese, 1/2 a cup of sun-dried tomatoes and 4 oz. of mushrooms

Heat an oven-safe skillet with a couple tablespoons of olive oil on a medium heat, and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the mushrooms, and slice them (unless you're lazy — ahem! — resourceful like me and bought the pre-sliced ones). Chop the white and light green part of 4 or 5 green onions and about half a cup of sun-dried tomatoes. 

Throw the veggie mixture in the skillet, and sauté until the mushrooms are a little soft. At this point, I added some pre-cooked breakfast sausage, but it's optional. Sauté until everything was warmed through. While this is going on, chop up the rest of your green onion, then throw the spinach and green onion in the skillet. The spinach is fluffy, so I threw a random lid on top to help steam the spinach. 

While the spinach is shrinking down, crack nine eggs in a mixing bowl, and pour in 2 or 3 tablespoons of half and half, milk or cream. Then throw in about 4 oz. of shredded cheese (I prefer white cheeses when including goat cheese), and whisk it up until mixed. 

The spinach should be shriveled up, so pour the egg mixture on top. Use a spatula to pull up the fried mixture so the eggs can seep underneath. No need to mix and swirl it. Crumble the goat cheese all along the top, like your dressing a pizza, and sprinkle some pepper up top. As it cooks, run your spatula along the edges of the skillet to keep it from sticking. When the entire thing is about halfway set (to where it's no longer liquidy, but the mixture still jiggles like jello when you shake the skillet), throw it in the oven for 13-15 minutes. 

Ta da! You'll know it's finished when it's a little brown around the edges and no longer jiggly.

Since our frittata was dinner for guests (though it would make a fantastic breakfast), we served some local truffles and caramels, toasted French bread, blueberries and cheeses. 

And a few pictures of our Sunday guests, Isaac and Tenille with their sweet children:

Our most recently baptized Godson, Little Bear.

I think Isaac was more than a little pleased to see Boo-Boo so enthralled with Cruncher's Star Wars toys.

A couple years back, we first met Isaac and Tenille was with Boo-Boo at our favorite bookstore. As all six of us hung out in the Catholic section, Isaac turned to us and said, "Do you go to St. Martin"? Why, yes we do.

Visit again soon!

~7~

I was talking about veiling with Ryan today, and it's just ridiculous that I care so much about what people think. I'm judging people for judging me, when I should be giving people the benefit of the doubt. After all, "You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could only know how seldom they do" (source). I need to remove the pressure to be successful in everything I do and not claim the power to control things. Trust God, and be the best version of me I can be.

"Blessed is the servant that does not think himself any better when people make much of him and exalt him than when they consider him worthless, ordinary and contemptible. For what a person is before God, so much he is, and no more."

~St. Francis of Assisi

Come See Me at the Zoo!

by Shannon

"...Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them."

– Luke 2:19-20

Happy Feast Day of Mary, the Mother of God!

We visited another beautiful parish in our archdiocese for Mass today, but we also checked in at our parish so I could shoot some pictures before the Christmas decorations come down in a few days. We're very blessed to worship in such a timelessly beautiful church.

Á la Catholic Icing, Jennifer Fulwiler and Brandon Vogt, our family is choosing a patron saint for 2013. I've been trying to think up great ways to celebrate the Year of Faith, and this one is a clear winner. Since this is our first year trying out this devotion, and I tend to overwhelm us with new traditions to try with the arrival of each liturgical season, we chose an easy one: St. Francis of Assisi.

I called him "easy" not because his life is simple to emulate (Which saint's is?), but rather because there are abundant opportunities to connect with him, which will make our devotion more difficult to forget.

We conveniently already own a St. Francis statue, a St. Francis icon, two framed copies of The Prayer of St. Francis, the first two volumes of The Adventures of Loupio for Cruncher (a fictional story about a little boy who is friends with St. Francis, illustrated in graphic-novel style). We (opportunly) bought Cruncher a family zoo membership for Christmas, which ties in so nicely with St. Francis' connections to animals and the environment. There are loads of literature, movies and music inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, not to mention St. Clare of Assisi and other saints who were Franciscans or Poor Clares. It is additionally helpful that his feast day of Oct. 4 happens to fall on a Friday this year. We'll probably plan a big Italian meal, as he is a patron of Italy. I would love, love, LOVE to do some sort of pilgrimage relating to him, but Italy and San Francisco are out of the question. Please let me know if you have any ideas.

We also chose him because, despite his popularity, we've surprisingly never included him in our family litany of saints. I really wanted to choose someone we could add to our arsenal, so to speak. I'm really excited about all of the prayer, teaching and learning opportunities a devotion with St. Francis will provide us this year. I'll try to keep everyone updated on how it goes.

If you're interested in connecting with a new saint, perpetual nerd Jennifer Fulwiler programmed the Saint's Name Generator. I gave it a spin, and it shot out St. Raymond Nonnatus, whom we already have a statue of in our home, plus we ask for St. Raymond's intercession for one of our godsons whose middle name is "Ray." A schoolteacher friend clicked "Find a Saint for Me!" and was ironically connected with St. Jerome, patron of schoolchildren! Give it a whirl.

Here's to a blessed 2013 for you and all your loved ones!

Edit: I discovered another St. Francis find in our house! The Little Flowers of St. Francis by Raphael Brown. We are EXTREMELY lucky to have a local used and new bookstore owned by two parishoners. Their Catholic section is Ah. May. Zing. Guess I know what I'm reading next...

Of Saints, Skeletons and Saison (Part 2)

by Ryan

"A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; 

he who finds one finds a treasure."

– Sirach 6:14

With all of this talk about saints from centuries long gone, one could be forgiven for thinking that the Catholic Church puts too much focus on these outstanding individuals. However, as my friend Marie points out, the Church is often a “both/and” institution. As in, we focus on saints of the past and of the present. While the saints of the past no longer need our aid in reaching their heavenly reward, the saints of the present need all the help they can get.

Without getting into a long discussion about the sacraments of the Church and their role in maintaining the saints of the present, one might wonder how a saint can be recognized. The book of Galatians offers this handy checklist:

“...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22-23

Reading that list of wonderful qualities makes me shudder! I feel that I fall horribly short of those aspirations most of the time. That’s why I find immense value in friends like John. I met John and his wife Drina in our parish choir, and we visit each other when we have the opportunity. 

After listening to the ninety-minute presentation on SS. Magnus and Bonosa, John and I went over to Sergio’s World Beers, a beer lover’s paradise located a short distance from the popular Frankfort Ave. area. I love visiting Sergio’s because it has such a wonderful beer selection, but is also usually quiet enough to have conversations and relax. 

John, though not a beer enthusiast at heart (he prefers bourbon, I believe) seems to always have an open ear as I endlessly rattle off beer stories, facts, style, etc. One of our most recent conversations involved saison, a beer style originally consumed by Belgium’s seasonal farmers. These beers range from a pale gold to amber in color (usually the former), though darker examples can be found; Jolly Pumpkin’s Bam Noire, for instance, pours a deep, rich brown.

Fantome's Dark White saison with stoneware vessels 

The saison we shared was from the small Fantome brewery in Soy, Belgium, and also represents a departure from typical saison with its darker amber color. This saison, called Dark White, struck with a damp, musty, herbal aroma with some notes of red grape and apple. The initial pouring of this beer filled our glasses with a huge, billowy head that never really went away. The flavor was quite similar to the aroma — lots of damp, musty character, but the fruit shined through a bit more, making the overall flavor much more refreshing than the initial aroma; the finish was dry and lingering. Dark White, in the manner of other great Belgian beers, had an effervescent mouth feel that seems to dissolve on the palate.

Before my rather extended passage on beer, I was talking about John and Drina, and their “immense value.” The Catholic Church actually considers the saints — past and present — as part of the “Church Treasury.” We usually associate the word "treasury" with money, but the end goal of the Church is for those who were born of God to return to Him; to this end, the value of the saints on earth as extensions of God’s virtues cannot be measured. I consider John, Drina, and many other friends and family as part of this treasury. I hope you find yourself just as fortunate.

John (hopefully) enjoying his glass of Dark White.

Of Saints, Skeletons and Saison (Part 1)

by Ryan

"One of the major highlights of Fr. Zabler’s pastorate came on December 31, 1901, when St. Martin received possession of the relics of two martyrs, St. Magnus and St. Bonosa. During the early third century A.D., the emperor Diocletian vented his fury against Rome’s Christians. In an effort to purge these 'heretics,' he put to death more than 15,000 persons in a single month. Among those who died were Magnus, a Roman centurion who cast his lot with the Christians, and Bonosa, a Roman virgin.[1]"

This, according to Church legend, is the account of SS. (saints) Magnus and Bonona, whose remains have called St. Martin of Tours home since December 31, 1901. Recently, with the permission of Joseph Kurtz, archbishop of Louisville, Fr. Frederick Klotter allowed archaeologist Philip DiBlasi and four students from the University of Louisville to examine the remains while the side altars, where the saints' bones rested, could be repaired.

So, this naturally raises the question: Why would a parish have any interest in keeping the bones of saints anyway? What sense does that make? Fr. Klotter explains below: 

After Fr. Klotter spoke briefly on the legends behind the saints, Professor DiBlasi began to explain his team’s findings:

This ceramic container holds the blood of St. Magnus; these samples will be tested in the future.

Professor DiBlasi with his team and SS. Magnus (right) and Bonosa (left). Notice that Magnus and Bonosa are both holding palm branches; these are traditionally signs of martyrdom and the paradise (Heaven) that awaited those who died in faith. (Click the photo to enlarge.)

The remains of St. Bonosa are noticeably more complete; both were later confirmed to have their own bones (not mixed with other skeletons).

One of the pictures of Bonosa, confirming aspects of her life believed since the third century. Other pictures confirm Bonosa was a young woman (approx. 24 y.o.) and Magnus was older (approx. 47 y.o.).

Ultimately, DiBlasi and his team were very pleased with their findings; it seems that these skeletons of Magnus and Bonosa provide nothing to refute the legends that accompany them. DiBlasi also noted how easily skeletons in Roman catacombs (where they were originally placed after death) were mixed up, and bones often filled in the gaps of other skeletons; this seems not to be the case here.

Professor DiBlasi reveals the results of his study.

In the case of SS. Magnus and Bonosa, and their skeletal remains, the future holds much promise. Testing will hopefully provide data from their blood, and computer reconstructions of their faces (at the very least, Bonosa, with her nearly complete skull) should finally reveal to us how the saints looked if we would have met them so many centuries ago or if, one day, we should encounter them in Heaven. 

---

[1] Dr. Carl E. Kramer, PhD, “The Church of St. Martin of Tours, A Brief History: 1853-1985.” In The Renaissance of The Church of St. Martin of Tours by Deborah Yetter (Shepherdsville, KY: Publishers Printing Company, 1992), 47.