Etheldredasplace

Something came to my attention when in the monastery which I feel is applicable to us lay people. Two ideas which are as simple as li...

Many of us are sitting back and wondering where the world will be moving politically now that America has lost the culture? war. We cannot b...

An idea came to my mind when I was at the monastery and I am throwing it out into the blogasphere for feedback. A group, which I do not t...

I would like to challenge an old and useful phrase, "offer it up". For our times, I want to change the sentiment to "absorb i...

Following up this theme of the possibility of the lay person achieving the sanctity of one in the religious life must be presented along wit...

A reader notes that being a Catholic seems masochistic. If original sin had not happened and if our natures were not bent on selfishness and...

For the lay person, just as with the religious, the first step is found in the purgative way: that is, the ego, the self-will must be destro...

My godfather, Uncle Charlie, died this past week. Please pray for his soul. He was a Catholic, very funny, a marathon runner, and a lover of...

One cannot explain spiritual growth for the lay person as easily as one can for the religious simply because the Rule of Benedict, or any ru...

Irish citizens last week passed a law which takes away parental authority over children and gives it to the State.  http://www.irishtimes...

The theologians and mystics writing on purgatorial suffering state it is the same as that of hell, only temporal, and with a certain joy und...

Supertradmum is not supertradnun. I could not join the Marines at my age. Up at 4:30, breakfast is tea and toast, period; prayer, work, pray...

Like my dad, I generally prefer women without makeup. While I appreciate the effort, I don't see the point of covering up things you don...

I did not put "So long" as not to infringe....cp. And, happy patronal feast of Our Lady of Walsingham, England............

Someone asked me on Friday for what the reason the Benedictine Rule existed and what was the purpose of  contemplative  nuns? As the pe...

A priest once told me that to examine one’s spiritual life is like ripping a plant out of the ground to look at the roots. This is...

My son has offered to continue the blog. He most likely will post once a week. I am so happy about this for the sake of my dear readers. He ...

The perfection series was quite popular with readers and you can click on the tag below for the entire set. I am leaving that theme unti...

Perfect Rectitude of the Will from the Master, St. Thomas Aquinas. If God allows me to do so, I just want to study St. Thomas for the re...

The entire reason why we are here is to come to know, love and serve God in this world and to praise Him in the next. That is right out of...