Reading Catholic

Reading Catholic and catholic

Nancy Piccione

American and Catholic {My October column, The Catholic Post}

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Here is my column that appears in this week’s print edition of The Catholic Post.

St. Catherine of Siena famously said, “If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze!”

Less well-known is a quote by St. Edith Stein. She didn’t say it about American Catholics, but definitely fits: “The nation doesn’t simply need what we have. It needs what we are.”

Neither of those quotes are in The American Catholic Almanac: A Daily Reader of Patriots, Saints, Rogues, and Ordinary People Who Changed the United States.

But they explain the appeal of this treasury that explores how a varied cast of characters and events shaped the nation and its Catholic culture.

The American Catholic Almanac is ably written by two authors—Emily Stimpson, an author with local roots (her family has roots in the Quad Cities, and her cousin is Peoria Notre Dame Chaplain Fr. Adam Stimpson), and Brian Burch.

For each day of the year, one notable American Catholic person or event in American Catholic history, with some connection to that date, is featured. The book spans from the earliest explorers in the late 15th and early 16th century, through to the present day. And, true to its title, the book explores patriots, saints and rogues, though I would argue there are no ordinary people among the 365 notables, obscurity notwithstanding.

I loved this book, and look forward to exploring it even more. Virtually every entry is filled with quirky, awe-inspiring, or just plain interesting, Catholic history.

Admittedly, I’m a history nerd. But you don’t have to geek out on history to love The American Catholic Almanac. Here are several reasons why:

*You’ll be surprised again and again by people you didn’t realize were Catholic, and even more surprised by “how” they were Catholic, whether throughout their lives, or at the end of life. I knew Andy Warhol was Catholic, but Jack Kerouac?

*You’l be astonished by the little-known events that helped shaped and knit Catholics into the fabric of American life. Did you know there was a 19th century Irish Catholic Colonization Association started by Peoria’s Bishop Spalding and others, to help re-settle Irish immigrants from tenements onto farms in the Midwest?

*You’ll find yourself wanting to know more about our rich Catholic heritage—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

This book inspired me to think more about the heroes in our own midst right now, and who might be included in a future volume of The American Catholic Almanac.

I really hope there is a future volume, although hearing from author Stimpson of the tremendous work that went into this one, it may be awhile.

We may not be colorful firebrands like Mary Fields (October 17, “Stagecoach Mary”), a whiskey-drinking former slave who served Ursulines, or tireless priests like local son (Alleman High School was named after him) Father Alleman (May 10, “The Big Priest”), who personally chopped the wood for churches he founded in southeastern Iowa and western Illinois. But The American Catholic Almanac makes clear that anyone, from celebrities and intellectuals to humble folk, religious and lay, sinners and saints, can have a big impact on culture and history.

A Cure for “Historical Amnesia” {The American Catholic Almanac Blog Tour}

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With apologies to Jane Austen, you must allow me to tell you how ardently I love and admire Emily Stimpson.

I’ve reviewed her books before here and here , and she was a “Reader” back around the time of the 2012 Behold Conference, where I first met Emily in person (photos to prove it in the link). To use another literary reference, Emily is definitely a “kindred spirit,” and I’m happy to claim her as a local author since she has roots in the Peoria Diocese and many of her family still lives here.

Headshot Living Room

So that’s why I’m delighted for Reading Catholic to be a stop on the blog tour for The American Catholic Almanac by Emily Stimpson and Brian Burch.  My review of the book appears in this weekend’s print edition of The Catholic Post and will post here in a few days. 

Thank you, Emily, for doing this Q&A, and for this great new book.

NP: Tell me a little more about your book, your co-author, and the writing process. How did you decide to write the book?

ES: Credit for the idea behind the book goes to Brian Burch and the Catholic Vote team, particularly Josh Mercer and Kara Mone. In the wake of the HHS Mandate and recent court rulings on same-sex marriage, many Catholics were justifiably concerned about government-imposed limitations of their religious freedom. But many more Catholics didn’t seem concerned at all. There was a lot of shoulder shrugging.

On top of that, more and more Americans have been questioning the Church’s place in the public square, seeing the Church (and faith itself) as a threat to democracy. Brian believed part of that problem stemmed from a sort of historical amnesia.

As American Catholics, we’ve forgotten our story: why our ancestors came here, how they sacrificed to establish the Catholic Church in America, and how much they contributed to the growth of this country.

The hope was that by re-telling our family story—in a fun, interesting, and accessible way—we could help Catholics (and all people of good will) both appreciate what the Church has done and work more vigorously to protect it.

As for the writing process, that’s where I came in. Brian approached me to work with him because I’m a storyteller, and he thought my voice could help set the right tone for the book. As I said, we didn’t want to write dry history; we wanted to tell stories that did justice to the great men and women who nurtured the Faith in America. Anyhow, I felt incredibly blessed to be asked to participate and jumped in with both feet.

After that, the actual writing process began with our fantastic research assistant, Tom Crowe, who organized the calendar and supplied us with materials to read. Then, I wrote the first draft for each month. As each individual month was complete, it went to Brian for review and revision. From there, it went on to Random House, then back to Brian, and finally back to me, so that I could smooth out everyone’s changes and ensure that the book didn’t sound like a committee wrote it.

When I explain the process like that, it sounds so sane. But it wasn’t. Everything was happening at once—filling in dates on the calendar, writing new entries, revising old ones, reviewing proofs, even designing the book cover. It was a massive undertaking, but we’re so proud of the end result.

NP: There’s such a variety of Catholics profiled, from Catholics as varied as singer Perry Como to Alexis de Tocqueville, to Rose Hawthorne, to concepts like the Act of Toleration. How did you come up with so many great entries?

ES: Again, Tom Crowe deserves a lot of the credit. He started by identifying the biggies—America’s saints, blessed, and venerables—as well as other key people and events in American Catholic history. Then Brian and I chimed in with more ideas. After that, as we researched and read, we kept identifying more interesting things to cover.

For example, while researching an early court case in New York about the inviolability of the seal of the Confessional, an off-hand mention of “Mrs. Mattingly’s miracle” piqued our curiosity, so we did some more research and discovered a fascinating tale of a miraculous healing that had been coordinated by an American priest and German prince via trans-Atlantic postal mail in 1823. How could we not write about that?

At another point, in the course of researching Terrence Mattingly, one of the great Catholic labor leaders, we found out that the original Mother Jones was also Catholic. And of course, we had to include her story! That’s how it went every step of the way. One interesting story led to another interesting story and before you knew it, we had more interesting stories than we could possibly include in just one book.

NP: You featured not just canonized saints or universally loved Catholics and events in American history, but also some controversial (either mildly or wildly) Catholics and events. It seems to me you don’t whitewash or downplay the controversy. Why was it important to you to share the good, the bad and the ugly here?

ES: Well, as James Joyce wrote, Catholic means, “Here comes everybody.” We’re not just a Church of saints. We’re a Church of sinners as well, and those sinners had a hand in shaping our history, too, for good and bad. To only tell the good parts would only be telling half the story.

Even more fundamentally, though, very few of us are all saint or all sinner. We’re a messy combination of both. And when we look at the last-minute conversions of men like Buffalo Bill, John Wayne, or Dutch Schultz or the tragic loss of faith experienced by someone like General William Tecumseh Sherman or even the mess of contradictions in the lives of Mother Jones, Andy Warhol, and Al Capone, we understand ourselves better. We understand grace better, and get a glimpse of what God can do through even the weakest of his children.

NP: Do you have a favorite entry?

ES: Oh gosh, that’s like asking if I have a favorite child. I enjoy the writing in this book far more than any decent person should enjoy their own work. I definitely have favorite people I met along the way, people to whom I now turn regularly for their prayers. Bishop Joseph Machebeuf, the first bishop of Denver, is one. He reminds me of an evangelizing Yellow Labrador— ever faithful, endlessly enthusiastic, and completely devoted to everyone he served.

Father Peter Whelan, who saved thousands of men’s lives in Andersonville Prison during the American Civil War, is another. I think the actual entries that I enjoy the most, however, are the ones where there’s either some sneaky, understated humor (like the November 30 entry on America’s first Catholic martyr, Father Juan de Padilla) or the entries where we found ways to shine new light on already well-known figures like Dorothy Day and Walker Percy.

NP: As I read through the book, I found myself thinking of who would be in a future, 50 or 100 years from now, version of The American Catholic Almanac, and what current pioneers might be included. I hope you won’t be embarrassed if I included you in there, with your books on a variety of topics and your passionate commitment to sharing our Catholic faith in honest and realistic ways. Are there people or events you wished you could have included in the Almanac?

ES: If I am among the best someone could come up with for some future Almanac, Nancy, the Church is in more serious trouble than I realized!

I will admit, though, that was one of the reasons I was pleased we included Katherine Burton in the Almanac. She was a Catholic convert and freelance writer, who was absolutely prolific throughout the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. She wasn’t a great writer, and almost nothing of hers remains in print, but she wrote a lot and she wrote well on a wide range of topics, particularly women’s place in the world. She’s a terrific example of a faithful, ordinary Catholic trying her best to help her contemporaries know and love the Faith—a patron “saint” for Catholic hack writers like myself, I suppose.

As for other stories, yes! There were so many we couldn’t tell, simply because of space limitations. Likewise, we wanted everything attached in some way to a date, and on some days 10 interesting things happened. On others, we were lucky to find one thing. That means people like our newest Blessed, Sister Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, and the religious sister who took on Billy the Kid, Blandina Segale, didn’t make it in. But hopefully, the Almanac will just inspire people to go out and do more reading on their own.

NP: What is your next project?

ES: Brian has this crazy plan to maybe do a second volume of The American Catholic Almanac, but we need to see how this one goes first. In the meantime, I’m getting ready to start writing a travel column for The Boston Globe’s new Catholic website, Crux.

That’s particularly exciting for me because it’s going to give me the chance to write a bit more about some of the people and places covered in the Almanac and visit those places as well. I’m afraid this Almanac has turned me into the crazy Catholic trivia lady. I’ll probably be annoying people for the rest of my life with the odd facts and fun stories I’ve learned this past year!

Father Benedict Groeschel, Rest in Peace

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I learned this weekend that Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., died on the eve of the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.  May he rest in peace!

He was such a sensible, holy voice in so many ways. Anyone who saw him on EWTN‘s “Sunday Night Live” for many years will recall many great interviews and insights there.

Here are four books that I consider Father Groeschel classics, from a quick perusal of my bookshelves.  I know he wrote many more, and I loved many more, but it’s a start.

Father Groeschel was a psychologist, and worked in the field for many years, so his advice about matters emotional and mental is both time-tested, professional and sensible, but with gentleness.

Here is where I briefly reviewed Arise from Darkness: What to Do When Life Doesn’t Make Sense, along with several newer classic book about mental health issues.  But it’s a gem.

Travelers Along the Way: The Men and Women Who Shaped My Life is a  relatively easy read, but very substantial and edifying at the same time.

I’m going to excerpt from my prior review of this great read:

This book is like a “who’s who” of Catholicism, from mini-biographies of saints and blessed, the famous and the obscure, in fascinating color. Each chapter is a little gem of anecdotes and memories of the particular fellow “traveler,” from Cardinal Cooke to Groeschel’s secretary.

The prolific Fr. Groeschel is easy to read (in the best sense of the word); he’s such an excellent writer that he makes it look easy to write in a conversational, relational style. Travelers Along the Way puts that great style to good use, as you can easily pick up and read one “traveler’s” story.

The Saints in My Life: My Favorite Spiritual Companions is very similar to Travelers Along the Way, but instead of stories of people Fr. Groeschel knew, the stories here are about his spiritual friendship with saints over his life and vocation. Nicely organized and useful for considering how the reader is impacted by saints.

Finally, here is a book I couldn’t locate on my bookshelf–I must have loaned it out to someone.  But even thinking about this book again brings up strong emotions.

In , A Priest Forever: The Life of Eugene Hamilton, Father Groeschel writes so beautifully about the life of a young man who had a longtime vocation to the priesthood. From the description (since I can’t peruse the book, nor can I find where I’ve written about it before–it must be offline):

This is the true story of Eugene Hamilton, a young man who dreamed of becoming a priest; a young man stricken with terminal cancer as his life was just beginning; a man who was ordained, by papal dispensation, just hours before he died.

My memory of reading it:  I  was a new mother with one baby when I first read this book.  I found myself weeping about his death, but also deepening my sense of by the nature of vocation, the gift of the priesthood to the rest of the people of God, and the beauty of life and death.

Do you have a favorite Father Groeschel book?  Any impressions of his life or advice?

Patron Saint of Spirited, High-Maintenance and High Energy Children Everywhere

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IMG_7990 St. Therese’s mother wrote about her:

“The dear little thing will hardly leave me, she follows me everywhere, but likes going into the garden best; when I am not there she refuses to stay, and cries so much that they are obliged to bring her back. She will not even go upstairs alone without calling me at each step, ‘Mamma! Mamma!’ and if I forget to answer ‘Yes, darling!’ she waits where she is, and will not move.”

Raise your hand if you were a high-energy, high-maintenance child.  Raise your other hand if you have one or more children in this category.

I’m raising both my hands.

Does anyone else think it is a travesty that St. Therese’s parents are not yet canonized?  Only Blessed? Really? Laughing here, but I think it’s pretty obvious they are saints.

Happy Feast of the Little Flower, St. Therese, patron saint of spirited children and their parents.

The reason I know about that quote above is when my younger teen daughter chose St. Therese as her confirmation saint, and read The Story of A Soul, that was one of her favorite parts.  This morning, there were at least two of my children doing that as they came downstairs.  “Mamma!” “Yes, darling.”  Repeat.

As you might be able to discern, we really love St. Therese at our house. I did the St. Therese novena–I’ve done it many times in the past, and this year I did the one along with Pray More Novenas.

I was a little sad that I didn’t see or get any roses, one of the promises of doing the novena.

Last night, my 13-year-old daughter and I made rose-shaped scones, as we do every year, using this pan (you can get one, too, if you click on the photo. I only use it a handful of times through they year, but I’m so glad I have it).

 This morning after Mass, I came home and decided to take an Instagram photo of the scones before we ate them, and as I was composing the photo, I heard St. Therese whisper, “Well, there are your roses!”

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There was no actual voice, but that kind of a thing would be something St. Therese would say.

Later that morning, my younger teen came down wearing leggings that have roses on them (it is her feast day, after all)  so I expect a lot more roses throughout the day.

Some books about St. Therese and her family:

I’ve written about Leonie: A Difficult Life before, and you can read that here.  But this is the first book I thought of today after Story of a Soul. (you can read Story of a Soul online here).

Briefly, Leonie: A Difficult Life  details the ups and downs in Leonie’s life.  Reading about her mental health issues and how she worked to overcome them and persist in seeking to fulfill her vocation has brought me to tears on several occasions.

I still have not read the entirety of this book, though several of my friends have it as a favorite.

Olivia and the Little Way by Nancy Carabio Belanger chronicles Olivia’s fifth grade year and her ups & downs, as she discovers the spirituality of the Little Flower. Just a wonderful book. Nancy wrote a sequel to it called Olivia’s Gift which has a subtle pro-life and modesty theme that is excellent for older girls, and that we also loved at our house.  Here is my Q&A with author Nancy Carabio Belanger.

Are you doing anything special to mark the feast of St. Therese? Any roses?

De-Clutter-ish September {random thoughts}

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Linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary for her 7 Quick Takes.  Seven is a nice way to organize!

Loyal readers will recall how I started a Facebook group to help give up sugar during August (thus, the creative name Sugar-Free August).  I really, really loved the accountability and the support the small group of people gave each other in health goals.  So for September, I started a FB group called “De-Clutter September” for support in trying to complete some house projects, as well as just generally de-clutter.

While the De-Clutter group has been great and good fun, I have not been very good about de-cluttering.  And it’s the last day of September today.

Perhaps it was a bad idea to want to tackle home projects in a month when I’ve driven thousands of miles for … so many things. Not a lot of time at home.

Perhaps I need to re-frame, and really consider all I have accomplished, even with a busy school schedule, tons of appointments, sick kids, and other life complications.

I’m also looking forward to October.  My birthday is this month, and I love my birthday.  My monthly goal is going to make an effort to see people in real life, especially grown-ups (husband, mom friends, etc.).    Maybe I can call it IRL (in real life) Social October? Maybe I should have done that for September, as Social September sounds better.

Anyway, here are seven links for de-cluttering, in case you need a little boost.  I’ll be continuing my de-cluttering projects through October, as my page-long list of to-dos only has two out of 18 things crossed out.  Not much commentary, so I can get back to de-cluttering.

1.  Flylady

The de-cluttering godmother of us all. I said I wanted her “crisis cleaning” this month, but that never happened.

2. 15 Clutter Busting Routines for Any Family

I find Becoming Minimalist very encouraging in trying to live with less.   But I had to laugh at #13, “always leave room in your coat closet.” I wish I had a coat closet. If I had a coat closet, I would try to leave room in it, I promise.

3. The Benefits of a Messy House at Momastery

“But as I lay down to sleep, I remembered this passage from Thoreau’s Walden: “I say beware of all enterprises that require new clothes and not a new wearer of the clothes.” Walden reminds me that when I feel lacking- I don’t need new things, I need new eyes with which to see the things I already have. So when I woke up this morning, I walked into my kitchen wearing fresh perspectacles. Here’s what I saw.”

Of all these articles, a must-read for anyone, de-cluttering or not.

4. Throw Everything Out 

The friend who shared this on Facebook said she was conflicted because of the colorful language in here. But it is funny, even if most of the advice is completely unrealistic for family life.

On De-Clutter September, this article inspired many of us to clean off the surfaces of our fridge and post (lovely!) bare fridges.  So it had a good effect.

5. Habit Change Is Easiest When People Move House or Undergo Some Life Transition

It wouldn’t be a random thoughts post from me without something from Gretchen Rubin, I’m starting to think.  But this is really good.  Shaking things up can really help.  I think this is why I like re-arranging rooms.

6. Habits: the Secret for Smooth and Easy Days? at Simply Convivial

This is so worth reading as well.

“Good habits do not make life smooth & easy.”

” And just because (creating good habits) is hard and never-ending does not mean we are doing something wrong or are failing in our efforts.”

Amen.

7. 52 Week To an Organized Home

One of my sisters shared this with me, and I’m bookmarking here so I can refer back to it.  Maybe I need a year-long challenge rather than a month-long one?  Some good ideas here.

What are you reading or encountering online these days?

More importantly, do you have any de-cluttering tips for me? 😉

 

Meet a Reader: Ellen Tallon

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{Following is this month’s “Meet a Reader” feature that appears in this week’s print version of The Catholic Post.}

Ellen Tallon

How you know me:

I am a parishioner of St. Ann Church in Peoria with my husband and foster daughter. I grew up in Morton and attended Blessed Sacrament Parish where my parents are still members. I have been a teacher for 20 years and have worked at Peoria Notre Dame and Peoria Heights High School. I am active in TEC, WATCH, JAM, and Cursillo.

Why I love reading:

I love to read because I love to learn. I especially love to read books and articles about three topics: faith, people, and science. The books I enjoy most intertwine those topics. Although I did not always enjoy reading I found it was the best way to learn about new things. Throughout the years, I mostly read scientific journals, but I have learned to appreciate biographies and novels. As a teacher, I love to challenge myself.

What I’m reading now:

I am currently reading two books.


Inheritance: How Our Genes Change Our Lives—And Our Lives Change Our Genes by Sharon Moalem, discusses how genetic breakthroughs are transforming our understanding of the world and our own lives. It is remarkably spiritual and scientific at the same time.


I’m also reading Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table by Shauna Niequest. It’s a series of short experiences around the table which help us to grow in our faith by sharing a meal with family and friends. It brings the focus of meals back to the ultimate feast of bread and wine in the Body and Blood of Christ.

My favorite book:


My favorite book is A Love Worth Giving: Living in the Overflow of God’s Love by Max Lucado. In the book, Lucado takes the verses from 1 Corinthian 13:4-8 and makes it unforgettable in our daily lives in very simple ways.

He has the ability to take the verses which are so familiar to us and turn them around so that we can evaluate how we are loving those around us. Do we love them the way God intended us to love others as ourselves? I have reread this book several times, and each time I learn more about the incredible love God has for us if we only are willing to allow Him to love all of us.