Saint Cloud of Gaul: The Prince Who Traded Kingdoms

I have to write about my latest read, Saint Cloud of Gaul: The Prince Who Traded Kingdoms (Susan Peek, Seven Swords Publications, 2022). I can't help but think that if everyone in our diocese read this book we would see a renewed local church. 

I passed this book up about three times before I finally bought it. I did not recognize the author's name, and I did not like the cover. But it was about our diocesan patron, so I kept thinking. Finally I looked inside the cover to see what other books Susan Peek had written. I recognized a few from my homeschool days. That clinched the deal. I started it the night I brought it home, and finished it the next. And I am a slow reader. 

The  book starts out with Cloud's witnessing the murder of his two brothers at the hands of his uncles. Cloud manages to escape. But right there I was imagining what it would be like for my granddaughter of almost the same age to witness such evil acts. Cloud's nightmare did not stop there since he knew he would be hunted down for perhaps his entire life. Talk about stress! And he could not exactly pop a Prozac or a Shaklee Stress Relief Complex, or B Complex. In our day and age he would have spent the rest of his life in counseling to overcome the trauma. 

The book revealed two aspects of early French history that I thought were interesting. First, Cloud hid for a night in the ruin of a Roman staircase. That painted a strong picture of the time period and the landscape for me. We do not have Roman ruins in our back yards! Second, I learned that Frankish royalty did not cut their hair. That made them readily identifiable. It also made me think of the long hair given to Christ Our King in many works of art.  

In Schoenstatt we have our "team" to call on when we need help: our patron saints, guardian angels, the Blessed Mother, and the Trinity. In the book Cloud referred to the saints in both the Church Triumphant and the Church Militant as "the gang". He was influenced by his holy contemporaries, notably his grandmother Clotilde, Bishop Remigius, and the hermit Severin. 

The book was written as a novel for teens. Susan Peek did an excellent job in presenting many of the emotions and temptations which teens, and really all of us, may experience: loneliness, social isolation, fear, the desire for vengeance, the attraction of marriage and the struggle to discern a vocation.  

 My one disappointment is that Susan Peek did not include a summary about which of the events in the book were real, and which were literary. My guess is that all of them happened more or less as described. I also would have loved a recommendation list for further reading. But I have a start. I dragged my Ignatius Press copy of  Saint Clotilde out of the back bedroom and started  reading that last night.

A Garden Catechism

 I stopped at the St. Cloud Bookshop on Monday to pick up a Bible for my brother. I came home with a few other items besides. It is a dangerous store for me to walk into. 

The first of the items I picked up was A Garden Catechism by  Margaret Rose Realy, Obl OSB (Our Sunday Visitor, 2022) I had seen this book advertised early last year, and had it on my Amazon wish list. I did the Amazon sneak peek, but still could not decide if it was worth the money. But buying it from the Bookshop gave me just one more incentive to purchase: I would be supporting a local business! So I took a look at the illustrations and sprang for it. I am glad I did. It fills in cracks left by the other books I have in my collection on Mary Gardens and flower names. As an example, Realy's book goes into detail about how the columbine, one of my favorite flowers, is named after the dove. The illustration shows an early cultivar which clearly resembles a dove in the way the blossoms are clustered with one petal like a wing gathering the others into itself. So beautiful. That is quite different than just reading on a list that columbine are "Jesus' shoes". I do not see them as shoes, unless one is talking about a very medieval style. I paged through most of the book late at night because it was so interesting. I am hoping to use the book in combination with my other sources to write little snippets for the bulletin when spring and summer come once again. I am not sure it will change the plants I use in my gardens at home and at church because there is no disputing taste. Red will never become a favorite color. Nor will cyclamen become a favorite flower. But I may tweak things here and there and use some of  her design tips.   

Another purchase was a book about St. Cloud by Susan Peek. The author's name did not ring a bell. Nor did the cover design. However, when I looked at other titles by the author I recognized one on Count Baldwin and the crusades from my homeschooling days. St. Cloud will be my Christmas break reading.  

Yet another purchase (Told ya it is a dangerous place for me!) was Fr. Daniel Lord's book on St. Nicholas, The Man Who Was Really Santa Claus, reprinted by Refuge of Sinners Press. I finished that last night, and will mail it off to my brother tomorrow. I can't say I was really impressed, or that it left me with a feeling of devotion to St. Nicholas. Too much of the book was editorial comment on how people liked moral mystery plays and debate about whether we should tell children about Santa Claus or not. I did like his brief history of the celebration of Christmas in Europe as opposed to how it is celebrated in the United States, and the differences in celebrating between Catholics and Protestants. That knowledge is important.

I finished up most of my Christmas shopping yesterday. I am so glad that I was able to do it at Fleet Farm instead of at Walmart. That way I did not have to support Walmart's satanic merchandise or liberal politics. They score very poorly on 2nd Vote, which is quite too bad since they should be a store for the poor and families.  

WINE (Women in the New Evangelization)

 Arthur and I attended the Catholic United Financial Regional Gathering at Queen of Peace in Rogers last Saturday. The keynote speaker was Kelly Wahlquist, founder of WINE, Women of the New Evangelization. Kelly's talk was inspiring. AND, she was selling books. Sucker that I am, I had to buy three of them. I'm always looking for things that may appeal to my granddaughters, or things that may help me in my own spiritual life. The three which I purchased were The Mother of Jesus is Wonderfully Real by Paul Murray, OP, Gaze Upon Jesus; Experiencing Christ's Childhood through the Eyes of Women, and Walk in Her Sandals. I could hardly wait to dig into them.

I read through Fr. Paul's book almost immediately. I have to say that I was disappointed. Was it bad? No. But I  was not thrilled, either. Some of the water colors in the book were absolutely gorgeous. Particularly the first picture of Fr. Paul mailing a letter. But wait! He was living in Italy when he wrote the letter, and the mail box clearly had the USPS eagle logo and the blue mail box color. Husband had to point that out right away, too. I guess I can overlook it, but it was a detail that could have coordinated with the story better. Other wonderful pictures were of Isabelle surrounded by photographs, and a young Fr. Paul with his father, and with his teacher and classmates. The picture of the Blessed Mother on page 12 was also beautiful. The pie on page 14 looked delicious, and I liked the flamingo. But I did not care at all for the other pictures of the Blessed Mother. She just did not look beautiful. Her smiles on page 25 and on the medal, and perhaps the large nose did not become her. The text fell a little flat as well. I wish that Fr. Paul had talked more about ideas of things that we cannot see, such as truth, goodness and beauty. The book did end with another fabulous picture of Fr. Paul. Kelly Wahlquist recommended the book as a baptism or First Communion gift, but I think I would pass on it in the future. I am not even sure that the book will be liked if I pass it on.

I had been reading Marian Consecration with Aquinas (Matt Fradd and Fr. Gergory Pine, OP, Tan Books) in preparation for my covenant renewal. I finished it late last night, along with reading the Schoenstatt founding documents. I treated myself to a sneak peak into Gaze Upon Jesus. I read through all of the commendations again, and then the forward and half of the introduction. Then I skimmed through parts of the first meditation by Stephanie Landsem. Did no one else catch it? Mary is described not as a woman immaculately conceived, free from all sin, but as a woman who prefers working in her  flower beds so much that her vegetable garden is neglected. Her mother teases her that St. Joseph will starve to death because of it. Mary is unmarried in the story, again, a false narrative, since she was already betrothed to Joseph, though they were mot yet living together. In fact, the text indicates that  she has not even met Joseph yet. Mary also ponders the future children which she and Joseph may or may not have together because of his old age, contradicting the tradition that Mary and Joseph both had made the Nazarite vow, and would not be engaging in sexual intercourse. Scripture itself affirms this, since Mary expressed surprise that she was to bear a child. Had she and Joseph planned on living as husband and wife in that aspect, pregnancy would have been no surprise. She would have just assumed that this would take place after they came to live together. There would have been no need to question the angel. Then, of course, the idea that Joseph was an old man who was widowed with other children fits nicely the Protestant interpretation of passages of the Bible which refer to Jesus' brothers. But we really do not know whether he was married prior to that or not. And we do know that there is no word for cousin in Aramaic, so Jesus' "brothers" were not his brothers as we understand the term. As colorful as Stephanie Landsem''s story might be, I am thinking that if the other mediations are that inaccurate, the books may not be that helpful. Time will tell as I read through them. 

Crosstown Appliance was here for the second time in a week this morning. Last week it was the stove. A minor clog in the whatchamajigi that kept a burner from always lighting, and the flame from increasing and decreasing. The technician fixed it with a toothpick. Our toothpick, even. A cheap repair. This morning he was back to fix the coils in the dryer. Another relatively cheap repair, particularly given that our dryer is over thirty years old. This is the first time we have had to have it repaired. No matter how good the deal, I am so glad that we have never bought into offers of discounts if we replace more than one appliance at a time. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Why clog up the landfills with appliances which are not dead yet?

I am up to my ears in alterations and repairs. Had to sew part of the zipper in Husband's new pair of pants because the zipper kept coming off of the track. I took in the shoulders on a new dress. Now I have to do the shoulders on a blazer. I am hemming the sleeves on my new winter coat, and re-hemming the sleeves on the lining of the rain coat I got last year. I have the sewing skills (YouTube helps.). But I am short on patience. Something to offer up to the Capital of Grace.

A Tale with Two Morals

 We got rid of all of the carpet in our house a couple of years ago. Now it is time to get rid of our Kirby Gen 4 vacuum cleaner. Yes, I could use the Kirby on our laminate flooring, but it is getting too heavy to haul up and down the steps every time I want to use it. We decided to donate it to our parish when we found out they needed a vacuum cleaner. 

A couple of months ago I had already wiped the Kirby down and packed all of the accessories in a box. Still, I wanted to make sure that I had covered all of my bases before I gave it away. Did I clean the roller? Yes. Better check the em-tor to make sure that there are no diamonds that got sucked up in there. Good thing I looked.

When I removed the em-tor I gave it a little shake. A couple of rocks fell out, and then a dust bunny caught my eye. Good thing I saw it. I pulled on it, and more came out. Then more, and more. The thing was loaded. I shook it, and dared to put my fingers in, and then finally grabbed the double-pointed knitting needle which I keep by my sewing machine to reach in and get the remains. By the time I was done I had about three cups of sand, cement, pins, screws, dirt, hair and change in a large pile on the floor. Really gross. I fished out all of the coins before I swept up the pile. I know they came from the time we cleaned out our daughter's car, and I knew they would be really dirty. When we did the car we had cleaned out everything imaginable that a kid could spill in a car - chocolate and white milk. pop, milk shakes, ice cream, melted candy, chips. I soaked the money in dish soap. Then I dumped it in Basic H and water and let it sit overnight. This morning I rubbed it with baking soda, and then finally added vinegar to the baking soda. Still, I can see lots of stuff still sticking to the coins.

The morals of the story are, 

1. Your mom was right when she told you not to put money in your mouth because you do not know where it has been. 

and,

2. If you have a Kirby, give that em-tor a good shake when you check it, and turn it over to see the inside. 

I thought I had been doing that, but obviously, I had not been doing that well enough.  

Books, Books and More Books

 My car is in the shop today, so it is a good time to blog. 

As usual, I pursue my quest to find more books which my granddaughters just might like to pick up and read. When I saw that Tan had The Chestertons and the Golden Key (Nancy Carpentier Brown, 2016) on their $5 book list, I had to get it. The story begins with an eleven year old girl's invitation to the Chestertons after her siblings see them at a hotel in their town. Woven into the story are a pair of roller skates and a missing piano key. I did not like the book at first because I thought it a bit far fetched, first, that such a young girl would recognize Chesterton, and second, that she would venture to write him a fan letter and invite him to lunch. But at the end of the book I found that the story was based on real events. Oh, how mature and well educated that young lady was at a time that we think was so repressive to women! Compare that to now, when kids of the same age cannot drag their eyes off of their computer screens. The truth behind the fiction put an entire new light on the story. The book does have a very attractive, colorful cover. The black and white drawings throughout the book are also very well done with beautiful details. Leaded window pains reminded me of my grandparent's house in Montana, and on one of the pages I saw a drawing of my beloved "teddy bear" bed frame. I got a laugh out of  GK's demonstration on handling writer's block through the use of a  sword and throw pillows. Can't say I'll try it, but it was funny.

After I finished that book I decided that I would order another of Brown's books, The Woman Who was Chesterton (American Chesterton Society, 2015).  Frances Chesterton sounded like a virtuous, kind, faithful Christian woman. Also interesting to see references to my old homeschool friend Charlotte Mason in the book in connection with the Parents National Education Union, of which Frances Chesterton was a member. That is such a cool historical connection. At a time when I can barely stand reading or listening to the news, the mainstream media because of all of it's propaganda, and LifeSiteNews because it is too depressing, this book was a refreshing read. I needed that. 

Now I am into something far more serious, but also riveting: The Sexual State by Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse (Tan Books, 2018). This was also a Tan $5 book purchase. But I know Dr. J. from the Ruth Institute, and it seemed a good follow-up to Leila Miller's Primal Loss. I felt the need to hear something of the harm that has come through the Sexual Revolution to counteract all of the societal messages promoting divorce, abortion and contraception. Even the Church seems to turn a blind eye to the harm that comes to children through divorce. The focus has been on the need for annulments before re-marriage, which is fine and good. But in the process no one is talking about whether it is really such a good idea for a second marriage even if it can be a sacramental one. I see these books as sort of reparational reading after my own daughter's first divorce. I can't help but think that had I read these books first, I would have given her different advice and acted differently myself. It will be hard for me when my granddaughter is old enough to start asking questions.

Now, for something lighter. I have dome some card stamping recently. My biggest need is sympathy cards, always. I did two designs which I really liked, based on a card which I saw on Split Coast Stampers. I also made a few graduation cards which I really liked. I have enough stamping stuff to last for ages, but I want to try using an ink blending tool when I can get my hands on one. Stampin' Up has a new Sale-a-bration coming up in August, so I will wait until then. 

My flower beds are looking good. It is time to pull out all of the johnny jump-ups which have gone to seed and I have just a few more iris to cut back. But the day lilies are just starting to bloom, and the lamb's ears and mallow are both blooming, and the light green foliage and white blossoms are beautiful. I am hankering after more dwarf iris for next year. I got some free mint seed at The Plant Place in St. Cloud, and that should be close to sprouting. But I also discovered that some of the mint I had put in a couple of years ago is still growing. It is not abundant by any means, but it is still alive. The mint which we had at Bald Eagle was very aggressive, so I wonder why I am having such a hard time getting it to thrive here. The zinnias which I started from seed from gift seed are blooming already in the Mary Garden at St. John Cantius. Once they were planted in the garden they really took off. 

I believe the gophers are gone, but we continue the battle with chipmunks. Cute as they are, they are becoming a nuisance. They ripped some insulation out of the walls in the garage, and dug a hole in my bag of potting soil. I am sure that we have one running around inside the walls of our house, since I have heard it at night. The drywall in our garage has a few access holes in it, and we have found holes in the slat wall and in the concrete near the garage door.