How to Make a Nun

We mentioned the investiture ceremony in Reginae Eclessiae. Here is a first hand look.

The time-honored, solemn tradition of... applying make-up.

The Father walks His Son's brides down the aisle.

The nuns made a cappa magna for the occassion:

The Bishop crops the postulant's hair:

The hair will be given to the new nun's mother.

And after a quick costume change and a few vows, both of which last a lifetime, you've got yourself a nun:

And just for good measure, here are nuns from a different order just after they recieved the habit. Notice the weight of the Church's mysogonistic opression in their faces:

My personal favorite...

The newest mothers of the world:

Reginae Eclessiae

Jesu et Maria sit nobis in via!

In her April 11th op-ed column, Maureen Dowd compared her position in the Roman Catholic Church to the position of Saudi Arabian women, saying, “I, too, belonged to an inbred and wealthy men’s club cloistered behind walls and disdaining modernity. I, too, remained part of an autocratic society that repressed women and ignored their progress in the secular world. I, too, rationalized as men in dresses allowed our religious kingdom to decay and to cling to outdated misogynistic rituals, blind to the benefits of welcoming women’s brains, talents and hearts into their ancient fraternity.” What lamentable error! The Catholic Church has an exalted view of women, stemming directly from their understanding of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In a belief which was first documented in the 4th century, the Roman Catholic Church has taught that God so loved His mother, that He made her the pinnacle of His creation. She was conceived entirely free from original sin, that she might remain the Mother of Divine Grace, Mother most Pure and most Chaste, and the Mother Inviolate and Undefiled, as she is described in the Litany of Loretto. Throughout the course of her life she remained in the same purity, being given the entirety of motherhood and virginity. And at her death, God, not content to see the mother of His Son turn to dust as we will, effected the bodily assumption of the Blessed Virgin into Heaven. And as the Magnificat tells us, all this was given to Mary, the simplest of women, God’s lowly handmaiden! The Church has certainly not repressed this woman, but has revered her to such an extent that many confuse it with worship.

Mary is the ideal of womanhood. While no other woman will be given the gift of virgin motherhood, the purity of the Blessed Virgin is the object of every mother. Abortion, contraception, and other corruptions of pure motherhood are condemned for this very reason. In their place, the Catholic woman is given every guidance to lead her to the fullness of herself. The Mother of God cooked, cleaned and did the so-called menial house chores! The housewife has been made the ideal vocation. Men ought to feel slighted because women, and not men, imitate the very Mother of God.

For those women whom are not called to motherhood, they become the spiritual mothers of the world while remaining virgins. Far from just locking themselves behind the grille, the Roman Catholic nun embraces the entirety of mankind, praying and sacrificing the joys that other women enjoy for humanity’s sake. They go so far as to deny themselves sleep! These women no more throw away their motherhood than they throw away their femininity, even in its most obnoxious forms. The nun is even spiritually married to her Divine Spouse, Jesus Christ. At her investiture, where her hair is cropped and she receives the habit, a nun is adorned with the most decadent wedding dress, jewelry and makeup available, in full recognition of this spiritual marriage. In taking the habit, these nuns vow to remain virgins, in direct imitation of the Perpetual Virgin.

The Church has praised women throughout the centuries. At the very height of the Mass when the Eucharistic species become the very Body and Blood of Jesus, the names of Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, and Anastasia ring out in the loudest public declaration of the Church’s love for the great women saints or the past. St. Monica, the mother of the famed St. Augustine is remembered by faithful Catholics in equal esteem as her son. We know about her through a few lines in a work of her son, and yet she is celebrated as one of the holiest of women. Lest it be thought that the Church expects women to “keep their place”, three women, Sts. Catherine of Sienna, Theresa of Avila, and Therese of Lisieux are proclaimed Doctors of the Church, a saints highest title. The Church does not oppress women, is not blind to them, and in no way disdains them. Rather, with the Queen of Heaven as guide, the Church, who herself is feminine, makes all her women queens.

Christus Vincit, Christus Regnat, Christus Imperat!

St. Justin, martyr

Prior to the Second Vatican Council, today was St. Justin's feast day. EWTN has reprinted Butler's entry, and New Advent has an impressive write-up as well.

But what caught my eye was this quote, writen no later than 160 AD:

There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he taking them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at His hands. And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present express their assent by saying Amen. This word Amen answers in the Hebrew language to genoito [so be it]. And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion. And this food is called among us Euxaristia, of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, "This do ye in remembrance of Me, this is My body; "and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, "This is My blood; "and gave it to them alone.

Eucharistic Mercy

This is a selection from St. Faustina's Diary:


This morning after completing my spiritual exercises, I began at once to crochet. I sensed a stillness in my heart; I sensed that Jesus was resting in it. That deep and sweet consciousness of God's presence prompted me to say to the Lord,

"O Most Holy Trinity dwelling in my heart, I beg you: grant the grace of conversion to as many souls as the stitches that I make today with this crochet hook."

Then I heard these words in my soul: My daughter, too great are your demands.

"Jesus, You know that for You it is easier to grant much rather than a little."

That is so, it is less difficult for Me to grant a soul much rather than a little, but every conversion of a sinful soul demands sacrifice.

"Well, Jesus, I offer You this whole-hearted work of mind; this offering does not seem to me to be too small for such a large number of souls; You know, Jesus, that for thirty years You were saving souls by just this kind of work. And since holy obedience forbids me to perform great penances and mortifications, therefore I ask You, Lord: accept these mere nothings stamped with the seal of obedience as great things."

Then I heard a voice in my soul: My dear daughter, I comply with your request.


How little Christ can deny us, Him who took flesh for us, who suffered the humilation of His Passion, Death and Descent into Hell for us! It would be foolish to think that we are not called to the holiness of the saints when we consider that He is most willing to grant us our every wish: He died for that privilage!

Christ told one saint (I want to say St. Rita, though I'm not sure) that He would have instituted the Eucharist for her alone. Think! Christ would have submited to His Life and Death, the most miserable a man could have experienced, all so that one simple woman could be one with Him for but a moment!

How could we possibly submit ourselves for Communion in a thoughless manner or not offer a most unworthy thanksgiving afterwards when we realize the excessive condescencion of God's Love! What could be more excessive than giving your whole self to a man who did nothing to deserve it. Luke warm companionship would have itself been excessive, and yet Christ gives us perfect love!

The saints considered their whole lives both a preperation for recieving the Eucharist and a perpetual thanksgiving. How pitiful are our inadaquate practices.

The Eucharist from Scripture

“And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne;” (Rev 8:3). When the Catholic Church pulls out all of her traditions, this passage comes to life in the liturgy. The priest takes a thurible filled with incense. Walking around the altar, he incenses it and man can see his prayers ascending to God. However, what I find most amazing, is that there is an altar in Heaven.

Why would there be an altar? This is Heaven we’re talking about! There doesn’t need to be any more sacrifice for sins. Why would we need to sacrifice? Won’t everything be perfect? Yes, it will, and perfect love demands sacrifice. Jesus revealed this when He told his disciples, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her living put in all that she had” (Lk 22: 4). This was true love for God. In Heaven, we see the 24 elders falling down before the Lord while “they cast their crowns before the throne” (Rev 4:10). These were the crowns that God gave to them, but they recognized that He gives us gifts so that we can glorify Him.

Yet, any sacrifice offered by us, including those Heavenly crowns, would be, in a sense, insufficient. Certainly not worthy using Heaven’s golden altar! Our lives are worthless. There is only one Lamb pure and holy enough to be an eternal sacrifice: Jesus. As St. John continues his revelation the Lamb appears “as though it had been slain” (Rev 5:6). Whoa! Jesus is appearing… dead in Heaven? Well not quite, the Lamb is very much alive. St. John is expressing the nature of the life of Christ. He perpetually offers His entire self for the glory of Father and those He loves. We couldn’t expect anything less from the perfect King. He is the good Shepherd who always lays down His life for His flock, eternally pouring His life, His blood, into our souls. Think, if He loves us shameful humans, He couldn’t possibly, even for a moment, withhold the tiniest sliver of love from His Father. Jesus offers His perfect life always to the One who begot Him, Him whom He loves so sweetly. The altar in Heaven is for Christ.

It is the glorious mystery of Christianity that we should follow Christ wherever He might go. Therefore, we offer ourselves “as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Rm 12: 1). God calls us to offer up our lives to praise Him, our perfect Good. Yet, should our worship stop there; I couldn’t help but fall on my knees and weep. Even if I should live a perfect life, I would have nothing worthy to offer God (cf. Rm 11: 35). So holy is our Father that nothing but the sacrifice of an infinite life equal to His own could satisfy Him. Blessed be the Lord that He has made this possible! Or are you unaware that by being sons of God, we share the inheritance and priesthood of Christ (cf. Rev 1:6)?

The core of the Old Testament and priestly life is sacrifice. At the institution of the Passover, Moses tells the Hebrews to buy a male, unblemished lamb. He instructs them to follow the two components of a sacrifice by first, slaughtering the lamb, and second, eating the lamb. Then, Moses has his people smear blood over the doorway to mark them as safe from the Lord’s wrath (Ex 12: 1-13). In Leviticus, a similar sacrifice is institutionalized and codified into law for the celebration of the harvest. Interestingly, there’s an addition. It is written, “you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD. And the cereal offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, to be offered by fire to the LORD, a pleasing odor; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin” (23: 12-13). Here, the sacrifice of lamb and the offering of bread and wine are placed together, side by side.

Another Old Testament practice was the “bread of the Presence” which was placed on a golden table (1 Kings). This was housed in the temple of the Lord, signifying God’s presence. This bread was always present physically as an offering to God. The Law declared the bread holy, not merely normal. Jesus discusses this in Mt 12: 4. “Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?”

I ask you brothers and sisters, if God loved Israel so as to give them signs of His presence and means to offer sacrifices to Him and somehow, we as priests will participate in the sacrifice of Christ in Heaven, what are we sacrificing now?

The eve of the Passover. The one True, perfectly unblemished, paschal Lamb lifts up a loaf of bread saying, “this is my body which will be given up for you.” Jesus completes the link between the bread and wine and the sacrificial lamb. In less than 24 hours, the Perfect Lamb would hang limp on the Cross, sacrificed. Jesus reveals at the Last Supper that His death on the Cross is the offering of bread and wine, not separate from the crucified Lamb. The bread and wine are fulfilled in Christ. Now if the sacrifice of Jesus was real. If He actually died, and it wasn’t just a symbolic death, we need to finish the sacrifice and actually eat the Lamb (cf. Ex: 12:8). Oh that is cannibalism! How can Jesus give us His flesh to eat? “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and you drink his blood, you do not have life within you… for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks by blood remains in me and I in him” (Jn 6: 52-56).

The Apostle Paul says this explicitly, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor. 10 16-17.) If we “participate” in something, we are part of that reality. Participation definitely does not mean symbolic, but to share a nature. The species of Bread share the reality of being Christ’s body and the wine, His blood. Paul continues that through this marvelous reality that something miraculous occurs: we who are many become one body. How can a merely symbolic presence do this? “I speak as to sensible men; judge for yourselves what I say” (1 Cor 10:15).

I am astonished that people believe Christ came to earth and gave us more symbols and powerless rituals to observe. He came to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth. Christ is present; Christ is King now. He was not here to mess around with human symbols and holy bread, but to give to us the reality of Heaven. Of course, we’re not ready to see this face to face, so like Moses who came down from the mount, His face shining, Jesus also veils Heaven for us. He gives us our Eternal Happiness in a reality we can cope with (Cf. Ex 34:29-33).

As “a high priest after the order of Malchizedek” (Heb 5:10), Christ too offers bread and wine (cf. Gen 14:18), but because Christ is infinitely greater than this mere mortal, His offerings and sacrifices cannot be merely symbolic lest we dishonor Him by saying that His gifts to us are equivalent to those of Moses. Nay, while the holy bread on the golden altar signified the presence of the Lord in the temple, the Eucharistic Bread is greater. It is the presence of the Christ’s eternal sacrifice on the altar of Heaven.

The Kingdom of Heaven is here (Alleluia, Alleluia!); Christ has ascended His throne and rules the world. He is Emanuel, God with us. Heaven is in our midst like a fig tree about to blossom. Its beauty is here, its fullness concealed beneath the sepals, safeguarded from the elements of the world. Because Heaven is here and truly now, we offer the same sacrifice of Heaven: the Eucharist, Jesus the Christ.