Page Counts

I was watching an episode of Jeopardy and the host chatting with one of the contestants noted that the contestant kept an unusual journal. In it, the contestant explained, she had been keeping a record of every book she has read - if I remember correctly - since the 1990's, and for every entry she recorded how long the work was. I don't recall the exact total, but my guess is it was well over 1,000,000. 

Since 2013 I have been recording the title and author of every work I've read - and written occasional reaction posts for some of them - but I've never totaled how many pages I've read. I have read in that span 352 work, including 29 so far this year. The last works were The Merry Wives of Windsor (127 pages) and Utopia (85 pages). So 212 pages in the last week or so.

Other books read this year include Oliver Twist (466 pages), Phantastes (185), The Maltese Falcon (196), The Ballad of the White Horse (120), and St. Joan: Girl Soldier (166). That comes to 1,345 pages from 7 of the 29 works read. So many others were books returned to the library already.  

Maybe I'll start recording page counts from now on. 

Pax et bonum

Saint Matthias Clerihew

The replacement Apostle Matthias 

was chosen by lot, not by bias. 

Alas, except for his selection. 

he's eluded all other historical detection.

Pax et bonum

The Merry Wives of Windsor (I Guess)

I just finished The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare as part of my quest to read all 38 of Shakespeare's credited plays. 

This was clearly one of his weaker plays. It was allegedly written following a request by Queen Elizabeth I for another play involving the rogue Falstaff from the Henry plays. 

I don't know the truth of that supposed reason for writing it, but it definitely reads like something thrown together in a hurry, or a bad sequel to milk money. It's not very witty, nor very merry, and Falstaff seems less robust as a character - and I was not a fan of Falstaff in the first place anyway. If I were a scholar or if I cared enough about the play I might be able to find some of the sources from which Shakespeare stole, um, borrowed. But I have better things to do with my time. 

I hope the Queen enjoyed it. I didn't.  

Three more plays to go:

Measure for Measure
Coriolanus
The Two Noble Kinsmen

Pax et bonum

Congressman Joe Morelle - Identifies as Catholic, But ...

Joe Morelle  @RepJoeMorelle ·May 13
.
@HouseDemocrats stand united in defense of women's health freedom. Republicans want to criminalize contraception and basic forms of reproductive care—dragging our nation back to a dark, dangerous time. We must stop them. #ProtectRoe #ProtectWomensHealth

Joe Morelle  -@RepJoeMorelle May 7

Overturning Roe v Wade would have catastrophic consequences for women across America. Today, our community stood together to say with one voice: we will not back down. We will continue fighting for the right of every woman to make her own healthcare decisions. #ProtectRoe

Joe Morelle @votemorelle ·May 12
Across the country we are seeing Republican elected officials chomping at the bit to criminalize women's health freedom. We must all stand together this November to elect Democrats to ensure Roe v Wade is codified into law.

@RepJoeMorelle ·May 5

The consequences of overturning #RoeVWade are clear and they are grave. Not only would it threaten the lives of millions of women, it also sets a dangerous precedent.

@RepJoeMorelle ·May 4

Our worst fears have been confirmed: the Supreme Court intends to strip women of autonomy over their own bodies and roll back centuries of hard-fought progress in a single decision.

@RepJoeMorelle ·May 3

The Supreme Court's draft opinion on Roe v Wade is unconscionable. We cannot go back to a time where women are treated as second-class citizens.

Joe Morelle

@votemorelle

·

Sep 28, 2020

I've always stood up to protect a woman's fundamental right to choose - which is why I'm proud to be endorsed by

@PPAct

. With the fate of Roe vs. Wade on the line, the fight to defend women’s healthcare rights is more important than ever. #ProtectRoe

From Catholic Accountability Project by CatholicVote  Morelle got an F

Women's Health Protection Act (2021)

The Women’s Health Protection Act is one of the most extreme pieces of abortion legislation ever introduced. The bill would wipe out most state pro-life laws and make unlimited abortion until the moment of birth legal at the federal level. This vote was taken on September 24, 2021. Rep. Morelle voted YES.

Equality Act (2021)

The Equality Act is a deceptively named bill being pushed by the radical “LGBTQIA+” lobby. It would expand transgenderism even to the point of taking children away from parents who won’t agree to gender “transition” and decimate the religious freedom of Catholic churches, schools, and other institutions to teach the truth about sexuality and the family. This vote was taken on February 25, 2021. Rep. Morelle voted YES.

Equal Rights Amendment Revival (2021)

The resolution sought to revive the long-dead “Equal Rights Amendment”, which would add a right to abortion to the Constitution and eliminate legal protections long given to women, such as alimony and exemption from the draft. This vote was taken on March 17, 2021. Rep. Morelle voted YES.

Catholic Members of Congress Release Statement of Principles
June 18, 2021
Press Release


WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. House of Representatives Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), and Brendan Boyle (PA-02) today led nearly 60 Catholic Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives in releasing a statement of principles. The statement documents how their faith influences them as lawmakers, making clear their commitment to the basic principles at the heart of Catholic social teaching and their bearing on policy. From increasing access to high quality education and health or reducing poverty, the document expresses the signers’ commitment to the dignity of life and their belief that government has moral purpose.

The statement and the list of signers can be found here and below.

As Catholic Democrats in Congress, we are proud to be part of the living Catholic tradition – a tradition that unfailingly promotes the common good, expresses a consistent moral framework for life, and highlights the need to provide a collective safety net to those individuals in society who are the most vulnerable. As legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives, we work every day to advance respect for life and the dignity of every human being. We believe that government has moral purpose.

We are committed to making real the basic principles that are at the heart of Catholic social teaching: helping the poor, disadvantaged, and the oppressed, protecting the least among us, and ensuring that all Americans of every faith are given meaningful opportunities to share in the blessings of this great country. That commitment is fulfilled in different ways by legislators but includes: reducing the rising rates of poverty, particularly child poverty; increasing access to education for all; pressing for access to universal health care; recognizing the dignity of all humans; and repairing long-standing racial and gender inequities in our society. Each of these issues challenges our obligations as Catholics to community and helping those in need.

We envision a world in which every child belongs to a loving family and agree with the Catholic Church about the value of human life. Each of us is committed to reducing the number of unintended pregnancies and creating an environment with policies that encourage pregnancies to be carried to term and provide resources to raise healthy and secure children. We believe this includes promoting alternatives to abortion, such as adoption, improving access to children's healthcare and child care, and creating a child benefit through the expanded and improved Child Tax Credit.

In all these issues, we seek the Church's guidance and assistance but believe also in the primacy of conscience. In recognizing the Church's role in providing moral leadership, we acknowledge and accept the tension that comes with being in disagreement with the Church in some areas. We recognize that no political party is perfectly in accord with all aspects of Church doctrine. This fact speaks to the secular nature of American democracy, not the devotion of our democratically elected leaders. Yet we believe we can speak to the fundamental issues that unite us as Catholics and lend our voices to changing the political debate – a debate that often fails to reflect and encompass the depth and complexity of these issues.

We also urge the Church to heed the words of Our Holy Father Pope Francis, who wrote in his Apostolic Exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel,” that the Eucharist although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.” Further, the Holy Father extolls that clergy must act as facilitators of grace, not arbiters, because “the Church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems.” As legislators, we too are charged with being facilitators of the Constitution which guarantees religious freedom for all Americans. In doing so, we guarantee our right to live our own lives as Catholics but also foster an America with a rich diversity of faiths.

We believe the separation of church and state allows for our faith to inform our public duties and best serve our constituents. The Sacrament of Holy Communion is central to the life of practicing Catholics, and the weaponization of the Eucharist to Democratic lawmakers for their support of a woman’s safe and legal access to abortion is contradictory. No elected officials have been threatened with being denied the Eucharist as they support and have supported policies contrary to the Church teachings, including supporting the death penalty, separating migrant children from their parents, denying asylum to those seeking safety in the United States, limiting assistance for the hungry and food insecure, and denying rights and dignity to immigrants.

We solemnly urge you to not move forward and deny this most holy of all sacraments, the source and the summit of the whole work of the gospel over one issue. We remind you that the Second Vatican Council renewed emphasis on the Eucharist as the central focus, especially in the Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy: “For the liturgy, ‘through which the work of our redemption is accomplished,’ most of all in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, is the outstanding means whereby the faithful may express in their lives, and manifest to others, the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church.” To pursue a blanket denial of the Holy Eucharist to certain elected officials would indeed grieve the Holy Spirit and deny the evolution of that individual, a Christian person who is never perfect, but living in the struggle to get there.

As Catholic Democrats who embrace the vocation and mission of the laity as expressed by the late Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation, Christifideles Laici, we believe that the Church is the "people of God," called to be a moral force in the broadest sense. We believe the Church as a community is called to be in the vanguard of creating a more just America and world. And as such, we have a claim on the Church's bearing as it does on ours.

Rosa DeLauro, Sylvia Garcia, Brendan Boyle, ... Joe Morelle ...

The Susan B. Anthony List, on its National Pro-Life Scorecard, gives Morelle an F, declaring, "Congressman Morelle has consistently voted to eliminate or prevent protections for the unborn including to force taxpayers to pay for abortion domestically or internationally. Rep. Morelle has worked to federalize election laws, taking power away from the states and endangering transparency in fair and free elections.

https://youtu.be/XTU4MpywpjY 

Added - 

@RepJoeMorelle Aug 16

 

Nearly two months after the horrific Dobbs decision, women's reproductive rights continue to come under attack. Access to care is being banned and criminalized across the country. It's despicable.

I'll always stand up for your right to choose.

@RepJoeMorelle  Aug 8

Healthcare decisions should be between a woman and her doctor—not decided by politicians or Supreme Court Justices. That’s why I helped pass legislation in the House to ensure access to reproductive care is federally protected. I'll always stand up for your right to choose.

@RepJoeMorelle  Jul 5

As the representative of a community with a rich history of fighting for women’s equality, I refuse to stand idly by while #SCOTUS guts women's rights. We must come together to #CodifyRoe.

From Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America Joe Morelle gets an "F." They comment: 

"Congressman Morelle has consistently voted to eliminate or prevent protections for the unborn including to force taxpayers to pay for abortion domestically or internationally. Rep. Morelle has worked to federalize election laws, taking power away from the states and endangering transparency in fair and free elections."

Pax et bonum

You are being played

By iowansforlife | June 16, 2020

By Sister Anne Marie Walsh

Sister Anne Marie Walsh

I feel compelled to say something after seeing, in recent days, some of the things that have been posted about pro-life, racism, the death penalty, etc. Please don’t quote Pope Francis to me, or any other prelate for that matter. I know exactly what they have said, and though much of it is well intentioned (let’s give the benefit of the doubt) in relationship to a number of “life” issues, much of it is also very misleading.

First off, there is NO moral equivalency between the deaths of 60 million INNOCENT babies, the overwhelming majority of whom are minority babies, and the 1518 people on death row who have been executed since 1976, close to the time when abortion was legalized in this country.

Sixty million vs. 1518!

Of those on death row and executed in this period of time, 8.5% were Hispanic, 34.1% were black, 55.8% were white, and 1.6% were other. That equals 847 Whites, 517 Blacks, 129 Hispanics and 25 others. Certain states seem to have some clear issues with race bias. But the overall national average is as stated. The race of the victims is surprising as well. Seventy-six percent of the victims were white, 15% black, 7% Hispanic and 2% other. Think about that for a bit.

Pro-lifers lead the fight against racism

Now think about the numbers for abortion, because pro-lifers are fighting racism more deeply than almost any other group out there, unless you don’t think the slaughter of black babies in the womb is racist enough to qualify. More black lives are lost through abortion than all other causes of death combined. By far, the highest percentage of aborted babies are black and then Hispanic and then white. Yes, all these issues are of one piece. But opposition to pro-lifers on the basis of a perceived obsession that ignores race, is a master lie that comes from the pits of hell, and is easily recognized by sane minds sanctified in the Truth. If you can’t see it then you need to examine your own conscience!

Look at the evidence [source: The Life Institute]:

Over 50 million abortions have taken place in the US since 1973.[xvii]

In the US, less than 1 percent of abortions occur because of rape or incest.[xviii]

More African American babies have been killed by abortions since 1973 than the total number of African American deaths from AIDS, violent crimes, accidents, cancer and heart disease combined.

Approximate number of African American deaths since 1973:

Abortion: 13+ Million
Heart Disease: 2.26 Million
Cancer: 1.64 Million
Accidents: 307,723
Violent Crimes: 306,313
AIDS: 203,649 [xix]

Since 1973, abortion has reduced the black population in the US by over 25%.[xx]
In the US, over 90% of Down Syndrome babies are aborted.[xxi] (Who cares about the discrimination going on here?)

The abortion industry in America each year in the U.S. brings in approximately $831 million through their abortion services alone.[xxii]

In the world, a baby in the womb dies every 2 seconds. Every time your heart beats, a baby dies. (Info taken from The Life Institute).

A false narrative

I, emphatically reject the suggestion that anyone who is pro-life, anti-abortion, is obsessed with one issue and unconcerned about the other life issues. It is utter nonsense! It is simply a repetition of an old, and false narrative, and it is distressing to see anyone in leadership parrot such nonsense. Such labeling and generalizations betray very real bias of another sort which has dark origins, very dark indeed!

While I don’t support the death penalty, I cannot expend the bulk of my energy on it as an issue when millions are perishing on another front, and future generations are being wiped out. So, Please don’t tell me you can vote for a pro-abort politician because at least they are anti death penalty. There is absolutely no equal comparison here.

A different analogy

Let’s use a different analogy to make the point crystal clear. We’re in a war. A fierce, bloody, ugly, smoke from hell war against life. JPII said life is always at the center of the battle between good and evil. And where are the front lines today? The front lines always are found where there is direct engagement with the enemy and the loss of life is higher than anywhere else. There is no General or Commander in the history of the World who ever believed you could win a war by staying away from the front lines and fighting the small battles behind the lines where the enemy may have infiltrated in small numbers.

The seamless garment argument (you must attack all issues, and especially the lesser ones at once, or you are not really pro life and shouldn’t therefore do anything) is an example of this kind of appalling thinking and impotent strategy that believes you can win the war without ever going to the frontlines where all the power of the enemy is wreaking the most destruction and will continue to do so unless someone feels an urgency to stop it.

Enemies do not magically go away.

They conquer completely in the end, if you don’t fight back and fight back where the war is especially fierce. It is ludicrous to think anyone could consider this a legitimate strategy in warfare and no one who wanted to win a war would appoint that kind of commander.

Is racism a problem? Perhaps. But, it is not what it was in the past. Progress has been made. Don’t take my word for it. Read Shelby Steele, and Thomas Sowell, or listen to some of the other black leaders out there who read what’s really going on and are trying to get your attention in order to help you think beyond the sound bites and manipulated media clips that pull your strings just as really as if you were puppets! I, for one, reject the notion that I am racist simply because I’m white. And I reject the notion that all cops are bad because one did something horrific. Identity politics leads to the insanity we are currently seeing. Stop playing their game.

You are being played.

If you are a student of history, you will recognize the same tactics used in igniting the French Revolution and the rivers of blood and destruction and desecration that followed. Outsiders came in to stir up the people against law and order, and to incite them to riot. Many, many, many lies were told for that purpose. And people believed them without thinking twice.

My own theory is that the emphasis upon the smaller battles and the discrediting of those who have the courage to fight on the frontlines when it comes to abortion, comes from cowardice and a convicted conscience. We have a nation, and particularly a Church, of deserters, deserters in the battle for life on the frontlines which should have been taken back decades ago! And we have, and will pay a price that is immeasurable. The consequences of our sin will recoil back on us, and have already begun to do so. When it gets worse, and it will, remember why! We let the enemy win!

Pax et bonum

rupee craver seeks more attention

every time 

i get a stone in my shoe 

i am reminded 

of the last days we were 

together


when i met you 

i realized you were someone 

who could touch my soul 

and open my eyes to all that is true

 and that is why i did not 

answer your text

there is a time 

for us to do 

what we have been doing 

and that time 

is every day

i thought

you loved me

i thought

i loved you

i've learned

to avoid

thinking 

if as they say

beauty is only skin deep

always remember

to use moisturizer

when i met you

i realized you were someone

who could touch my soul

and open my eyes to all that is true

and that is why i did not

answer your text

there is a time 

for us to do 

what we have been doing 

and that time 

is every day

one of my dreams

is making enough money 

to build a house

with mirrors 

in every room 

so every moment

of every day

i can see

ME

every moment

is a moment

that could be a moment 

behind this mask

i am who i am

but who i am

is not whom

you think i am

i am not

an imposter

i am simply 

a mask

hiding my insecurity

and

milking the honey

i avoid deep waters

sticking to the shallows

where i feel safer

and can be

        more easily

                              seen

Pax et bonum

Major Works Taught

The subject of teaching books came up on social media, and I mentioned a few titles I had taught, citing  a couple that I particularly liked teaching.

The exchange got me to thinking about books and plays I had taught or assigned as summer reading  over a 25-year career. 

Novels

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Scarlet Letter

Jane Eyre

Uncle Tom's Cabin

A Tale of Two Cities

The Bronze Bow

Number the Stars

The Things They Carried

Of Mice and Men

The Old Man and the Sea

Wuthering Heights

Pride and Prejudice

The Color Purple 

Lord of the Flies

Harry potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

 

Plays

Romeo and Juliet

Julius Caesar

The Merchant of Venice

Macbeth

Hamlet

A Midsummer Night's Dream

The Miracle Worker

The Crucible

The Glass Menagerie

Everyman

Summer Reading

Rebecca

The Magician's Nephew

The Trumpeter of Krakow

The Bean Trees 

A Separate Peace

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

The Kite Runner

Black Like Me

The Book Thief

Sarah's Key

Between Shades of Gray

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

I'm sure there are more!

Pax et bonum

Deadlines Missed

I wasn't paying attention, and let two poetry deadlines pass.

One was certain - the Haiku Society of America's Members' Anthology will publish one poem from heach member of the society. I am a member, so I would have had a poem in that one.

The other was for an online magazine where I have been published before, so I had a chance. 

I'm not sure how I let this happen. Ah well; I need to pay attention to the next deadlines. 

Pax et bonum

To Jane, or not to Jane

I recently posted about some books I was thinking of reading. I mentioned two Jane Austen books - Persuasion and Northanger Abbey.

I have never really liked Austen, but they seemed to be books I SHOULD read.

So I took them out of the library. I put them on the pile of books to read. I picked them up a couple of times, then put them back. I started reading something else. (St. Thomas More's Utopia)

Sigh.

I'm taking them back to the library. I have no read desire to read them - and SHOULD is not enough of a reason for now.

I recognize Austen is one of the greats ... but her kind of romances and social satires just don't interest me.

Pax et bonum

Saint Bernardine of Siena

Most of the saints suffer great personal opposition, even persecution. Bernardine, by contrast, seems more like a human dynamo who simply took on the needs of the world.

He was the greatest preacher of his time, journeying across Italy, calming strife-torn cities, attacking the paganism he found rampant, attracting crowds of 30,000, following Saint Francis of Assisi’s admonition to preach about “vice and virtue, punishment and glory.”

Compared with Saint Paul by the pope, Bernardine had a keen intuition of the needs of the time, along with solid holiness and boundless energy and joy. He accomplished all this despite having a very weak and hoarse voice, miraculously improved later because of his devotion to Mary.

When he was 20, the plague was at its height in his hometown of Siena. Sometimes as many as 20 people died in one day at the hospital. Bernardine offered to run the hospital and, with the help of other young men, nursed patients there for four months. He escaped the plague, but was so exhausted that a fever confined him for several months. He spent another year caring for a beloved aunt whose parents had died when he was a child, and at her death began to fast and pray to know God’s will for him.

At 22, he entered the Franciscan Order and was ordained two years later. For almost a dozen years he lived in solitude and prayer, but his gifts ultimately caused him to be sent to preach. He always traveled on foot, sometimes speaking for hours in one place, then doing the same in another town.

Especially known for his devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus, Bernardine devised a symbol—IHS, the first three letters of the name of Jesus in Greek—in Gothic letters on a blazing sun. This was to displace the superstitious symbols of the day, as well as the insignia of factions: for example, Guelphs and Ghibellines. The devotion spread, and the symbol began to appear in churches, homes and public buildings. Opposition arose from those who thought it a dangerous innovation. Three attempts were made to have the pope take action against him, but Bernardine’s holiness, orthodoxy, and intelligence were evidence of his faithfulness.

General of the Friars of the Strict Observance, a branch of the Franciscan Order, Bernardine strongly emphasized scholarship and further study of theology and canon law. When he started there were 300 friars in the community; when he died there were 4,000. He returned to preaching the last two years of his life, dying while traveling.

Pax et bonum

For Crying Out Loud Ancestry

As it has done several times since I first did a DNA test in 2014, Ancestry has updated my profile. 

May 2022

Ireland - 39 % (still strong Donegal roots)
England and Northwestern Europe - 29%
Scotland - 28%
Sweden and Denmark - 4%

But this update offers a radical change since the update last September.

September 2021

Scotland - 57%
Ireland - 33% (with ties to Donegal)
England and Northwestern Europe - 10%.

How do I go from 57% Scotland to 28% Scotland??? In just eight months??  And my mother was from Scotland - as were her mother and father. I know they likely had some Irish in them, but really ... 

Previous results:

2020 - 

Scotland - 54%
Ireland (with strong links to Donegal) - 29%
England and Northwestern Europe - 13%
Wales - 3%
Norway - 1%

2018 -

Ireland/Scotland/Wales - 58 %.

Great Britain - 36 %.
Scandinavia is now Sweden, and dropped to just 4 %.
Germanic Europe - 2 %.

2014

Ireland - 56 %
Scandinavia - 16 %
Great Britain - 10 %
Iberian Peninsula - 8 %
Western Europe - 5 %
A few odd traces - 3 %

I understand that as they get more people testing they are able to refine the results, but some of the jumps seem too big. And they've changed the names of the regions over the years making it hard to compare. 

Even before I took the initial test, I knew Irish and Scottish would dominate. I thought it would be Irish on top with Scottish close behind. 

Except for the weird lumping of Ireland with Scotland and Wales in 2018, Ireland had been reasonably consistent after a drop from earlier results - 56% to 58%  (combined with Scotland and Wales) to 29% (a weird big drop) to 33% to 39%.

Scotland went from no mention to 58% (combined with Ireland and Wales) to 54% to 57% to 28%. 

I started out primarily Irish, with some Scottish, to primarily Scottish with some Irish. Now I'm back to primarily Irish with some Scottish. 

So much for my joining the local Scottish Heritage Society!

The combined Irish/Scottish - which, as I said, I've always considered myself -  has gone from 56+% to 58% to 83% to 90% then back down to 67%. 

The most recent results with England and Northwestern Europe at 29% actually fits in with recent discoveries about my family tree that has one branch going back to Shropshire England and even further back to Northwestern France  (Bretagne - or Brittany) around the time of the Norman Conquest.  

The switching back and forth between Irish and Scottish is frustrating. And it's frustrating that the "Viking" roots were there, disappeared, and then came back. 

Will the next update further confuse the picture? Maybe it will reveal some Neanderthal, or Martian.  

Pax et bonum

Saint Paschal Baylon

In Paschal’s lifetime the Spanish empire in the New World was at the height of its power, though France and England were soon to reduce its influence. The 16th century has been called the Golden Age of the Church in Spain, for it gave birth to Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Peter of Alcantara, Francis Solano, and Salvator of Horta.

Paschal’s Spanish parents were poor and pious. Between the ages of seven and 24 he worked as a shepherd and began a life of mortification. He was able to pray on the job and was especially attentive to the church bell, which rang at the Elevation during Mass. Paschal had a very honest streak in him. He once offered to pay owners of crops for any damage his animals caused!

In 1564, Paschal joined the Friars Minor and gave himself wholeheartedly to a life of penance. Though he was urged to study for the priesthood, he chose to be a brother. At various times he served as porter, cook, gardener, and official beggar.

Paschal was careful to observe the vow of poverty. He would never waste any food or anything given for the use of the friars. When he was porter and took care of the poor coming to the door, he developed a reputation for great generosity. The friars sometimes tried to moderate his liberality!

Paschal spent his spare moments praying before the Blessed Sacrament. In time, many people sought his wise counsel. People flocked to his tomb immediately after his burial; miracles were reported promptly. Paschal was canonized in 1690 and was named patron of eucharistic congresses and societies in 1897.

- From Franciscan Media

Pax et bonum

Pro-Abortion Extremists Unhinged Since The SCOTUS Draft Decision Leak

Reading along

My quest to read all of Shakespeare's play continues. Most recently, I read Pericles and Timon of Athens - which leaves me with five to go this year: 

The Merry Wives of Windsor
All’s Well That Ends Well
Measure for Measure
Coriolanus
The Two Noble Kinsmen

And I've already started All's Well That Ends Well.

In addition to the Shakespeare plays, there are other books on my "I should read these" pile (including some that are rereads.

The Brothers Karamazov and Les Miserables top the list of rereads. I originally read them decades ago. I'd also like to reread Thomas More's Utopia. And I'm already slowly rereading St. Augustine's Confessions. 

Some other books I hope to get to:

Don Quixote by Cervantes

Northanger Abbey or Persuasion by Jane Austen (I've already read and taught Pride and Prejudice - and even directed a play version of it - and Sense and Sensibility. I'm not a big Austen fan, but she is Jane Austen, so...)

Mysteries of Tony Hillerman, Chesterton, and Arthur Conan Doyle that I have not already read - at least one of each.

The Ballad of the White Horse by G.K. Chesterton

A Further Range by Robert Frost

The Apology by Plato

There are others - various biographies, mysteries, spiritual books that I will read as I stumble across them or that are suggested as worth reading.

Pax et bonum