My Secret is Mine
“Secretum meum mihi,” (“my secret is mine.”) was St. Edith's Stein's cryptic response when her best friend asked why she converted. We serve up interviews, historical sketches, Bible studies, book reviews and essays for Catholic women. MY SECRET IS MINE is for women with an audacious hope: that the Messiah makes all things new.
Bible Study: Genesis 1 and 2
Created in the Image and Likeness of God by Kristen West McGuire Genesis 1:26-31a26 And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth. 27 And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the...
Meet Jen Moran: Mommy of Many
MEET JEN MORAN: MOMMY OF MANY by Kristen West McGuire Jen Moran is the mother of nine children and eight grandchildren (so far). Her podcast and blog, Mommy of Many, ran from 2007-2010, a precursor to the larger family social media trend. Today, she lives in Northern California with her husband, Terry Moran. He founded the nonprofit, VetsBoats, where both of them work to provide a therapeutic sailing and boat restoration program for disabled veterans. This interview took place in 2008....
Birds and Bees, Doin' It!
BIRDS AND BEES, DOIN' IT... by Kristen West McGuire Part Three of a nine part series on Mulieris Dignitatem (On the Dignity and Vocation of Women) by St. John Paul the Great. “Birds do it, bees do it. Even educated fleas do it. Let’s do it. Let’s fall in love!” With all due respect to Cole Porter, I am not sure that my husband and I resemble fleas, even educated ones! There are those who truly see no difference between fleas and human beings. We are all earthlings, right? Well, yes and no....
A Slave who became a Queen...and then a Saint!
The Chemise of St. Bathildis by Kristen West McGuire At a museum near Paris, a linen funeral garment dating to the 7th century is on display. The owner was Saint Bathildis, a slave girl who became Queen of the Franks, and then retired to a monastery. How did this happen? Historians believe she was born around 630AD, a member of the Saxon tribe. Danish pirates captured her and sold her to a prominent official in Neustria (northern France), Erchinoald. The myth relates that she was cheerful,...
Book Review: Loving your Neighbor, Loving Yourself
Works of Mercy, by Sally Thomas Reviewed by Margaret McGuire Works of Mercy, by Sally Thomas (Monee, IL: Wiseblood Books, 2022) 261 pp. How do I interact with, let alone love, my neighbor? This is one of the questions that haunts the protagonist in Sally Thomas’ Works of Mercy. We meet Kirsty Sain engaged in cleaning the rectory and meeting the new parish priest. Kirsty’s life is well-ordered, undisturbed, and barren. Gradually, we learn she is widowed, childless, and all alone in a Southern...
Pray for Women Survivors of Sexual Assault
Pray for Women Survivors of Sexual Assault by Michelle Tykal Every 68 seconds, there is a sexual assault in the United States. The vast majority of these are perpetrated against women. One in every 6 women, as opposed to 1 in every 33 men, has been the victim of completed or attempted rape. Sexual violence by someone known to the victim, which accounts for roughly 80% of assaults, deeply impacts a person’s emotional, physical, and relational well-being. Our culture’s understanding of trauma,...
The Magnificat: He Has Done Great Things!
THE MAGNIFICAT by Kristen West McGuire Luke 1:46-55 46 And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48 Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 49 Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him. 51 He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud...
Meet Janet Long: Divine Disclosure
MEET JANET LONG - DIVINE DISCLOSURE by Genevieve Kineke Janet Long is a writer and researcher on issues concerning family, faith, and health. She has worked as a facilitator in elementary schools in New Jersey for the Child Assault Prevention program (NJCAP) and in local hospitals as a member of SART, the Sexual Assault Response Team. She is presently on the Advisory Board at Restoration 199, a non-profit organization serving survivors of complex trauma in the DC Metro area. Genevieve: You...
Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to be a Millionaire? by Kristen West McGuire Part Two of a nine part series on Mulieris Dignitatem (On the Dignity and Vocation of Women) by St. John Paul the Great. Well, shoot, who doesn’t? Occasionally, thanks to the lottery or some game show, one of “us” hits it big. Millionaire! It’s a really compelling story! It resonates with our hearts – we’re happy for the schmuck who won, and maybe a little envious. The larger context makes the ‘millionaire mirage’ look a little shallow. I...
NEW! Quirky Pilgrimage Column: ANDALUSIA
ANDALUSIA by Kristen West McGuire Stephen Matthew Milligan via Wikimedia Commons. Why visit Milledgeville, Georgia? If you have to ask this question, you need not bother – fans of Southern gothic writer Flannery O’Connor will know why. The antebellum capitol of Georgia, Milledgeville reinvented itself after the state government moved to Atlanta in 1868. The economic engines keeping the town from dying included a military school, a college for women, and the largest “lunatic asylum” in the...
“Secretum meum mihi,” (“my secret is mine.”) was St. Edith's Stein's cryptic response when her best friend asked why she converted. We serve up interviews, historical sketches, Bible studies, book reviews and essays for Catholic women. MY SECRET IS MINE is for women with an audacious hope: that the Messiah makes all things new.