Christine Calabrese's Blog

The book is written like a letter. I think it may have been a letter to those who did not understand St. Catherine or mocked her; it’s not written as a novel, just a letter. Once I got over my expectation that this was a literary novel, I truly enjoyed the book and came to appreciate the author.

She was born the 19th child in her family and a twin. Her twin died in infancy. They were born on Annunciation Day, 1347, and these birthdays are significant.

I bought this book to continue to increase my “friendship with the Saints.” I learn about the Saints and then ask for their prayers; with knowledge of their lives, challenges, and unique contributions to the Holy Mother Church, I find I feel closer to them and am able to address them as friends. And there they are in the Church-Victorious, waiting to be beckoned if only we knew how important this friendship must be to Our Lord. He sends them as messengers, as examples, and his closest allies to give us lights in this dark world, to show us what His Cross requires, and we, their little clients, work to follow along their well-beaten path.

This Catherine, this incredible Catherine, was claimed by Our Lord at age 7 when she saw Him, and that was the beginning of her journey. A journey of persecution endured courageously even as a child, a journey of illnesses and lack of food and sleep, and a journey again of self-denial. Yet, given the graces to endure, the charity to combat the persecutions, and the faith to endure the deprivations. The author of this book is her confessor, and he’s also a great example.

Catherine couldn’t learn to read; they tried teaching her, but she just wasn’t able to learn. But she prayed, and Our Lord gave her the graces to read anything. We see her again, that it’s often not the most talented that Our Lord chooses; it’s the most committed, the most willing to endure His Cross for His Church, that’s the Catholic Church and none other. Make no mistake: all the Saints were Catholics; they believed and often saw the True Presence, the Holy Eucharist, which is Our Lord, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity veiled yet present.

This is our Faith, the actual Faith.

Catherine wanted to be a cloistered nun; she didn’t want to speak to others, but Our Lord called her to do so, and she obeyed; this is self-denial. Our Lord had her speak to the Pope and advise. She was given graces of wisdom beyond her abilities. She experienced ecstasies so often that her close friends and followers expected it.

The book is written as an apology for Catherine. Blessed Raymond of Capua sometimes addresses the unbelievers or scoffers in the book. Each time he addressed them, I thought, “Not me! I believe everything you’re telling me, Father!” But I guess some doubted Catherine in her time.

She calls the Devil “Pickpocket!” and mocks him as he tries to derail her efforts. She laughs at him, I thought that was funny.

St. Catherine is a Doctor of the Church, and she set straight heretics and converted them.

Here’s a link to do more research on St. Catherine of Siena: https://catholicism.org/saint-catheri...

I love this book.

St. Catherine of Siena, ora pro nobis.

The post The Life of St. Catherine Of Siena by Blessed Raymond of Capua Book Review By Christine Calabrese appeared first on Christine Calabrese, Author.

Self-Custody Your Bitcoin! 

We know that sounds scary!

But it would be more frightening if someone else held your Bitcoin and denied you access or, worse, lost it!

 

Self-Custody!

Memorize your seed phrase.

You can use some memorization tricks.

First Letters.Make up a story for every three words.DRAW pictures of your stories.

Now  you have the words memorized and you have a visual picture of  your words in your brain.

Those pictures are only meaningful to you.

Review your seed phrase daily in your mind, picture your images, do this daily as you would your prayers.

By the way,  don’t forget to say your prayers!

     

 

BE SMART with your BITCOIN ~ HODL!

Just incase you haven’t heard HODL means hold, someone long ago had a typo on the word hold and HODL became our mantra.

 

 

 

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MAKE SURE  YOUR SCAPULARS ARE BLESSED!

Hint:  Make a pattern: 

Get some Christmas paper at the Thrift Store and cut out your measurements. 

Use that as a guide.

 

Measure.  

Standard pillow 18″ by 60 ”  

King Pillow 18″  by 80″  

 

 

Wrong side up: 

There’s the scapular!

Folded the scapular in half and double rolled fabric. (You cannot see it at all!)  

It’s here!  Do you see it? NO!

Sew over the scapular moving the wheel by hand because it’s thick and you do not want to damage your sewing machine or break a needle.

Now just sew your seams, follow directions in the video. You turn the fabric so that the wrong side is facing out. 

You need six inches for the overlap. 

Here it’s ready to be sewn.

 After  sewing a straight stitch you need to sew and overlock stitch here. 

Overlock stitch for my machine. 

 

 

Try it out if you like

 

 

Wrapped and ready to deliver. 

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The Engima of Father Vera Daniel by Michael Gryboski

I was flagged by the author on Goodreads, who recommended his book after he noticed my interest in this genre.

I approached this book cautiously because I had just read a poorly written, self-published book with many accolades. This made me question the entire self-published industry.  Where do you turn for honest reviews?

I’m unsure if this is a self-published book, but I can tell you this is an adept, seasoned writer.

This is an honest review.

Father Daniel is a good man caught in the cross-hairs of what looks like the French Revolution (though this is a fictional depiction).   His rhetoric and actions seem to side with the revolutionaries. However, he learns of the grave injustices to the Church by those who promote their revolution. He finds himself running from the monarchy and the revolutionaries until he decides to side with one.

We see friendships cultivated along the way, which he never forgets. The good bishop who loves him dearly suffers for his friend.

In the end, Father Daniel does the work of the Church, which is the true revolution demonstrated by exemplary priests, bishops, religious, and, of course, our beautiful holy saints throughout the ages.

This book was a page-turner. I looked forward to reading it, which is the mark of a good book.

I can tell you that if you like Catholic historical fiction, you will enjoy this read.

Great job, Michael Gryboski. Thank you for sharing your hard work and expert writing skills.

The post The Engima of Father Vera Daniel by Michael Gryboski BOOK REVIEW by Christine Calabrese appeared first on Christine Calabrese, Author.

Chapel veils can be expensive but they are really not hard to make.

Buy about 1/4 yard of very movable, flowing lace, be careful not to get the stiff lace.Buy about 3 to 3 1/2 yards of lace trim matching your lace.Cut your lace into a triangle or curved triangular shape.You can measure from your forehead to the middle back of your neck or even to the middle of your back to see how long you’d like your veil. (I like my veils long so I dipped down into the middle of the back.) This would be the longest point and help you buy the correct size of lace.  Now, just hand stitch the trim lace around the edge of your lace.This takes time to hand stitch but it’s pretty relaxing. I like to use an overlock hand stitch with this lace.       Here’s a video for that stitch:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=havk0m4bBlw&t=16s

 

Customize the lace to whatever length you like, left over lace can be used to wrap gifts, or for children to make them veils as well. 

 

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If this “teacher” would have just taken advantage of the “LOOK INSIDE” feature on Amazon she would have not purchased the book because she would have seen it was not to her liking. Instead she went ahead and bought it without any research and this is the result!

Silly Little Scissors had fantastic reviews until this PreK teacher voiced her opinion. Here it is with ONE STAR:  🙂

“DUMB BOOK: I can’t believe this was written by an educator. It’s terrible. Why would you read a book to children about using scissors and the scissors go around cutting crayons, dress up clothes, the clothes in the students’ cubbies…this is not silly at all! Will not be reading to my Pre-k class.”

I want to address this “Pre-K Teacher” who seems afraid to read my book to her class because she thinks her children will learn bad behavior.

The book is comical and intended to draw children in. Silly Little Scissors does those bad things because she feels ignored.
Finally, in the end, she assists the children in proper cutting.

The children LOVE this book because it reminds them of themselves. As you read it, you demonstrate good behavior versus bad behavior. As a teacher, I’ve often found that the best thing to say is, “This what we do?” while doing the bad thing.

This approach provides children with a clear reference point for what not to do, reinforcing the book’s educational value and its potential to positively influence children’s behavior.

If this teacher thinks she is so weak that her students will go around and follow the funny antics of the cute character we have in this book, I feel sorry for her students. She ought not to teach and ought rather to do something else.

The teacher is depriving her children of an engaging book that will set them straight on scissor skills and teach them a lesson about feeling left out. Remembering to include everyone and make sure everyone feels loved is an important side note of the book.

I sometimes give this book away.  Parents tell me that their children love this book, and keep requesting it over and over again.

The post SILLY LITTLE SCISSORS ~ My response to a bad review on Amazon. appeared first on Christine Calabrese, Author.

HAIL! FULL OF GRACE

Simple Thoughts On the Rosary
By Mother Mary Loyola

This book is well-written and contains profound and inspiring thoughts. It is jam-packed with meditations for each decade, it would take hours to finish one mystery. So turning to any page and reading while reciting a decade helps overcome the enormity of the text.

Each decade is separated into about ten meditations. One could methodically go through each point over several weeks—one or two per week. There is always fresh content, and reviewing the points already read brings new insights.

At the end of each decade, there are also ten meditation points. One could easily use those for thoughts on the beads of the Rosary.

In addition, there are also prayers embedded in the text.

Here are some quotes:

Joyful Mysteries: The Nativity p. 17

“He lays Himself down on the straw in the coldest hour of the winter’s night. His little limbs are trembling, and there are tears of pain in His eyes. But He stretches out His arms to us, and the smile on His lips says:”

“…You need a Redeemer: I will redeem you when I am old enough. I am too small to be crucified yet, but when I am grown up I will shed the last drop of My blood for you. In a week’s time I will give some to show you I am ready to give all…”

Sorrowful Mysteries p. 80 The Carrying of the Cross

“O dear Lord Jesus, how touching is Thy faltering and failing on the uphill road! How reassuring is it for us, Thy weak brethren, to creep up to Thee after our own falls and see Thee lying prostrate, spent, powerless. And-here is our example-whilst still trembling with the shock and pain of Thy fall, with all the weariness of failure upon Thee, with the knowledge that at no great distance Thy strength will give way anew-rising and struggling on,, in no wise shaken in Thy resolve to pursue Thy way, and to prove by Thy very falls Thy unconquerable love of us…”

Glorious Mysteries: The Descent of the Holy Ghost p. 163-164

“…Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners. Pray for me that my prayer may become more like thine. Get me light to see the needs of my soul that I may know what to pray for. Remind me in time of temptation to turn at once to prayer. Teach me to convert anxieties, plans, everything into prayer…”

This book is a gem. Here’s hoping you add it to your collection.

Remember St. Padre Pio’s admonitions: “Love Our Lady, make others love her. Always say your Rosary and say it well. Satan always tries to destroy this prayer, but he will never succeed. It is the prayer of her who triumphs over everything and everyone.”

The post Hail Mary: Full of Grace ~ Simple Thoughts on the Rosary by Mother Mary Loyola ~ Book Review by Christine Calabrese appeared first on Christine Calabrese, Author.

An easy book to read.

Included but not limited to are the following saints:

St. Gertrud, St. Bridget, St. Catherine  of Sienna, St. Francis of Assisi,  St. Gregory…etc.

The most memorable saint was St. Nicholas of Flue, the  Patron Saint of Switzerland, who  is responsible for Christian Democracy.  Switzerland was spared entry into the two World Wars. This miracle has been attributed to this fascinating saint.

The United States could use his intercession these days!

St. Nicholas of Flue, pray  for us!

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Saint Magnus

Like the scriptorium illuminated manuscripts, a Catholic book ought to be a work of art.

“Will I deteriorate as a writer if I read this book?” I questioned my editor.

“Endorsed by the Catholic Writers Guild? This could raise suspicions of nepotism.” I added.
“No, no, it’ll in fact, inspire you to be a better writer. You witness first hand the effects on the story.”

“Okay,” I hesitated, “I’ll give it a try, but I’m having a hard time stomaching this.”

The concept of this book is intriguing. Historical novels are captivating.

One would expect the writer to adhere to period dialogue instead she uses colloquial language and sometimes period vocabulary. There is a lack of consistency in the text. Additionally there is a use of trite phrases.

Here are some examples of overused common language in the book: p. 20 “dead meat” p. 21 “come out from under a rock” p. 15 “to say the least”

Yet on p.19 we read period language, “Speak not like that before the Council, son.”

There are poorly designed sentences that may make grammatical sense but stop the flow of the text.

p. 22 “As if in a daze, Grida wandered silent and alone through the still smoldering ashes…” through “what had been…” “her and her…” father’s home.”

I stopped reading, “her and her…” may make grammatical sense but the result is awkward.

My recommendation to the author is to study two resources:
“The Elements of Style,” by Strunk and White and
“On Writing Well,” by William Zinsser.

I would not recommend this to teens who are learning to write and ought to surround themselves with great literary works. Let them read Mark Twain, GK Chesterton, Victor Hugo (Les Miserables), The Count of Monte Cristo, etc. The saints have a plethora of good reading for teenagers and adults.

St. Magnus deserves better and so do young Catholics.

Good writers are hard to find, bad writers turn the business of writing into a sport.

I will put this book to rest.

The post Saint Magnus The Last Viking By Susan Peek ~ Review by Christine Calabrese appeared first on Christine Calabrese, Author.

Wife, Mother & Mystic

Blessed Anna-Maria Taigi.

Reading about saints establishes supernatural friendships. We are brought closer to heaven as they are studied and incorporated into our daily lives.

This book is translated from French, therefore in reading the text one must be a bit forgiving. At times the author loses the reader because ample background is not provided; no doubt the translator struggled to find words and correct syntax.

Once I got over my initial shock of the jarring writing style, I began to enjoy this book. I learned that Anna-Maria Taigi, married with children, was called upon to be one of those rare victim souls who changed the world with her sufferings.
Her diligence instructing the children in religion and keeping them from sin was courageous and admirable. Her love for her husband is a model for all married women.

History was changed because of this one soul who dared to suffer and believe and practice the Catholic Faith in all things. How was it changed? By her prayers, her intercession, healings, visions and counsel.

 

Heavenly friendships are a wonderful consolation for the Church Militant. This book helps do that by learning about an undiscovered mystic.After reading this book, I’m sure you will feel comfortable including her in your petitions.

Blessed Anna-Maria Taigi, ora pro nobis.

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