Saint Patrick's Day Secularized
I wanted to buy a few cards for Saint Patrick's Day to send to family and friends both in Ireland and in the U.S. The cards I saw in local shops were entirely secular, apart from a few sentimental "Irish Blessing" motifs. Many were in poor taste. Some were downright offensive. Even our local Celtica shop had precious little in the way of images of Saint Patrick. I irked the chirpy sales lady by saying that her so-called Saint Patrick's Day cards were . . . heathen!
Remembering Adé
My mentor of thirty-five years ago, Catholic artist Adé Béthune, found her vocation when Dorothy Day asked her to make some good images of the saints. Adé's saints appeared in the pages of the Catholic Worker. They were later printed as greeting cards and holy pictures. Conception Abbey's Printery House has some decent Saint Patrick's Day cards. There may be other sources too. Terry N. would know. For the most part what I saw today was . . . heathen!
His Excellency, the Bishop of the Diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma has given
Father Mark a special mandate to live in adoration before the Most
Blessed Sacrament, in a spirit of thanksgiving and intercession, that he
might make reparation before the Eucharistic Face of Jesus for all his
brothers in Holy Orders. At the same time, he is available to the
priests and deacons of the Diocese for spiritual and sacramental
support in their pursuit of holiness.
I know what you mean. I love Ade Bethune's work.
Each time I visit the Benedictine monks of St Gregory's Abbey, Portsmouth, RI, I visit Ade's grave and pray for her eternal rest and in thanksgiving for her work. We are blessed. I am perplexed why St. Catherine's College has her archives though.
What - you're surprised?
MO fan: Why, shouldn't be?
Your experience in the shop doesn't surprise me. Most Celtic shops in America are run by neo-pagans.