Monthly Archives: March 2008

I am very excited to be headed down to Georgia in the morning to do a bit of research. My mother’s great-grandmother was Eulalie Boggs, and her family was from Oglethorpe County, Georgia. My mission tomorrow and the next day is to dig up documentation that will help me take the family back

Eulalie Boggs Scott (1869-1909)

a generation or two more. I think my chances are better than average, since the street one block off of Main Street is Lexington, Georgia is named (are you ready??) Boggs Street! If nothing else I can take a picture of the street sign for the scrapbook, right?

I am proud to say that Eulalie’s father, Choang T. Boggs was a Sergeant-Major in the Confederate Army. 1st Georgia Regulars, Company H. After the war, he was a School Teacher. They left Georgia sometime after 1880 and moved to Ouachita County, Arkansas. It was here that young Eulalie met her future husband, Armstead Lee Scott, who would eventually move her to Texas.

I am looking forward to my trip very much for several reasons. One, it has been quite a few years since I’ve been able to spend a couple of afternoons poking around in dusty old archives. I love that! Two, it will be gloriously Spring down in good ol’ Oglethorpe County, GA. It’s been a bit nippy up here, and I’m looking forward to the warmth. Furthermore, my friend Lisa is going with me! She is planning on studying and writing some sort of paper for her nursing class while I poke around in ancient probate records. But, come evening, we will have a wonderful time, I’m sure! It’s always more fun to have a traveling companion. It will be a nice working break for both of us!

What can I give You?
You bought my life and soul
With your raw and tattered flesh
That dripped blood
Into my chalice
For my communion.
You paid in hideous gaping wounds
For my peace of mind.
With Your silent agonizing humiliation
You heaped my tiny troubles
Upon Your overburdened Cross;
You tread barefoot over sharp stones,
Through jagged sneers,
And under Eternity’s crushing weight
To purchase my redemption.
My debt is great,
And You deal not in currency,
But in Love.
So let me love others
As You love me.

Alex and I drove over to Charlotte this morning for the Chrism Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral officiated by Bishop Peter Jugis. Priests from all over the diocese were there, to renew their vocations, along with all of the Seminarians from the diocese as well. We got there around 9:15, and the Mass was at 10:00. The first miracle of the day is that I parallel-parked my car!! For those of you who know me well, you will instantly recognize that this was truly an act of God’s Divine Grace and Mercy! But I digress. . .

Alex had borrowed a cassock and surplice from our parish, because he had been told that if he vested up, he would be able to participate. He was warned that he would probably just process in and out, and sit there, but at least he would be ‘a part’. Well. . . . the Mass started, and there was this LONGGGGG procession of priests (I think 120 of them???) and some deacons and Bishop Emeritus William Curlin, and Abbot Placid Solari from Belmont Abbey, and finally Bishop Jugis. I was beginning to wonder if Alex had gotten to serve after all. Then I saw him, following the Bishop, with one other altar boy, and they had these white cloths draped over their shoulders and hands, so I knew they would be holding the Bishop’s Mitre (hat) and Crosier (staff). Sure enough, when the Bishop got up to the Altar, he handed his staff to Alex, and Alex got to sit up on the Altar for the entire Mass, holding the Bishop’s staff!!! I actually cried, I was so proud!! Oh, and to top things off perfectly, there were five of Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Charity at the Mass, too! They had on the white habits with the blue stripes and all!

The Mass was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I am sure that the choir sounded very much like the Angelic Choir in Heaven!! I got chills listening to them. It was the most ‘holy feeling’ Mass I’ve ever attended, and I just kept feeling so blessed and unworthy to be there! I loved the incense, and the smell of the oils. (The Chrism Mass is where the Bishop blesses the Chrism and Anointing oils for the Diocese for the upcoming Liturgical Year, then a priest or deacon from each parish takes them home to his church.)

Anyway, afterward, when I was walking out, I got to shake Bishop Jugis’ hand, and I introduced myself and told him that I was Alex’s mom, the one who was holding his staff. He said, “Oh, yes! He will be talking about that forever!” And I blurted out “So will I!” He smiled and told me that holding the Bishop’s staff was a very important office, and that Alex should be very proud and I thanked him for letting Alex be a part. Then we went to lunch with some friends from our parish. It was an incredible day!!!

For more information on Chrism and it’s uses/meanings, please visit NewAdvent.

Pysanky

I confess to having a very deep-seated disdain for easter egg hunts. When I was a child, my parents took me to an easter egg hunt at our local country club. My mother made a beautiful blue egg, just for me, complete with my name on it. I was so proud of this egg! When we got to the hunt, I was shocked and dismayed to discover that we were to surrender all of our eggs to the folks running the hunt, who would then take them and hide them for everyone to hunt for. I tried to explain that the blue egg with my name on it was not to be hidden, but it didn’t matter. It is a rare adult who will listen to a three year old child.

So, my prized egg was hidden, and another little girl found it, and no matter what I said or did, she would not relinquish my egg. I was absolutely devastated, and have hated easter egg hunts ever since. But never once did I wonder why, for the purpose of celebrating Jesus’ resurrection from the dead on Easter Sunday, we colored eggs and then hid them! As an adult, I have wondered about this many times, and been asked about it, by non-Christians, as well.

I read a really sweet and simple explanation for this that I thought I would share. In fact, there are several curious Holy Week customs that I would like to share, that I found in this week’s online edition of Our Sunday Visitor:

Palm crosses: From medieval times, people have believed that blessed palms formed into the shape of a cross would protect them from danger. The easiest way to make a cross from blessed palms is to cut two pieces of the palm, arrange in the shape of a cross, put a thumbtack in the middle, and attach the cross to a doorway or a bulletin board. Check the Internet for directions on how to braid or weave palms into more decorative crosses.

Housecleaning: In many cultures the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week are designated as days for vigorous housecleaning in preparation for Easter. This custom probably evolved from the Jewish custom of ritual cleaning before Passover.

Coloring eggs: Decorating eggs was a pagan symbol of rebirth at springtime for the Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Persians and even the Chinese. Christians adopted the colored egg as a symbol of new life which comes with the Resurrection.

Easter lilies: The tradition of buying Easter lilies during Holy Week for use as decorations in homes and churches came into practice in the 1800s. The white flower is a symbol of purity and new life that heralds the resurrection of Jesus.

Visiting churches: The custom of visiting several churches to say a prayer on Holy Thursday was a tradition that evolved from the practice of making pilgrimages to holy places.

Sweet breads: In many cultures, Holy Week was traditionally a time for baking sweet breads, cakes and pastries that would be served on Easter Sunday.

Blessing of Easter baskets: In many cultures, families bring food that will be eaten on Easter Sunday to church in a basket for a special blessing on Holy Saturday.

New clothes: From the time of the early Christians, the newly baptized wore white garments made from new linen. In medieval times, it became a tradition for people to wear new clothes on Easter Sunday, symbolizing the “new life” that comes with the Resurrection. In some places it was believed that bad luck would come to those who could afford new Easter clothes but refused to buy them.

Holy Water blessings: Some families bring holy water containers to Mass on Easter so they can bring home some Easter water, which is blessed during the Easter Vigil, to bless their homes.

Our family actually celebrates most of these customs! I think it is the traditions and rituals that make this season so meaningful, at least for me. And while I still don’t care for easter egg hunts, I do still love beautifully decorated eggs! I am absolutely fascinated by the famous Fabergé eggs that were created for the Russian Royalty. And of course I love the intricate and delicately painted Polish Pisanki!! One of my prized possessions is a beautiful black egg, embellished with gold and pearl, that opens up to reveal a tiny jewelry box. It plays music, as well!

Most of us would never even consider helping someone who had been mean to us.  We would probably never want to see or speak to them again, let alone go live with them!  Yet that is exactly what St. Patrick did. And because of his obedience, he is one of the most popular and famous saints ever. (Although I’m not exactly sure he would approve of the drunken revelry that ensues each year in his honor.)

St. Patrick was actually Scottish, not Irish.  He was captured and taken to Ireland at the tender age of 14, where he spent six years in slavery.  Rather than becoming bitter and angry toward God for his misfortune, like most of us would, he turned to God in prayer for comfort and strength.  When he was 20 years old, God came to him in a dream and told him to go home.  Patrick believed God, escaping his enslavement and being reunited with his family.  But the Irish still called to him in his dreams. (We Irish folk are hard to forget!!)

He entered the priesthood, eventually becoming a bishop.  He spent many years in Rome doing great work before he was sent to Ireland to spread the message of the Gospel.  He was chosen because of something he’d learned during his years as a slave: Celtic!  He was able to communicate with the Irish.  And, as History clearly testifies, he communicated with them beautifully! He preached all over Ireland, even in the face of grave danger from the Druids, many of whom would have rather killed Patrick than convert to Christianity.  Patrick and his followers were imprisoned and sentenced to death many times.  However, by the time of his death in 461, he had converted virtually all of Ireland to Christianity.

Patrick is well known for using a shamrock as an object lesson on the Trinity.  He had an unassuming manner and a gentle way of speaking.  He was known for his humility and disinterest in material things.  He is also credited for chasing all the snakes out of Ireland, although I’m not sure that’s ever been proven!

For me, St. Patrick challenges me to rise to the occasion, and accept whatever lies in front of me with a positive attitude and trust in God.  I’ve never been enslaved, per se, but I’ve certainly been caught in situations that I felt very trapped in. St. Patrick is an amazing example of how to deal with those situations.

And, for those of you who love timelines (like me!) here is some interesting trivia. St. Patrick lived from 385 – 461 AD. (Why do I always think he was around during the Middle Ages?) Below are some people and events that coincided with his lifetime:

• The rise of Buddhism occurred in the late 300’s.
• St. Augustine lived from 354 – 430 AD.
• Hippocrates began movement toward medicine as science in the 400’s.
• And, last but not least, the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire occurred between 337 – 476 AD.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

My friend, Jill, has developed an amazing website, and is adding even more wonderful information to it. I have added a link to it in my Homeschool Links section, but here it is again: Homeschool-By-Design. She has done an amazing job of covering all the bases, and I’m really impressed! Check it out.

Our Girl Scout troop is working on the ‘My Heritage’ badge. One of the activities is to create some sort of presentation about your family heritage. Our troop is planning on making a scrapbook page at our next meeting, so each girl will have a special keepsake about her own family. In the process of planning for this meeting, our wonderful troop leader, Christy, found a free software program, available for download, for creating and keeping track of a Family Tree. She inspired me to do some digging of my own, and I discovered that a program I paid around $50 for a couple of years ago is also now available for free.

So, I thought I would share the sites, in case anyone would love to start working on their family tree, but didn’t want to pay for software.

The site Christy found looks really great: MyHeritage.com. They have lots of cool stuff on their site to help you out. The program I used to use that is now free is called FamilyTreeLegends. They also have some neat stuff on their site, and both programs do ’smart matching’ where, if anyone else is using their software and has the same information as you, the program will notify you, and hopefully connect you with someone else who is working on the same family as you are! And, if you just feel happier buying a software program, I still recommend RootsMagic! (See my Genealogy Page for more information on this program!)

Lent is a season of great reflection for me. In fact, Lent is my favorite of all the Liturgical seasons.  I think it is because the daily readings and meditations put me so much more in touch with not just my inner darkness and sinfulness, making me very aware of how much I need mercy and forgiveness, but because they lead me very clearly and gently to God, the only real source of them.

I think that this year, more than ever before, I have become amazingly aware of how much God has extended His mercy to me, of how much He has forgiven me.  For whatever reason, that has never been something that has been very tangible to me in the past.  Perhaps it is because of the Bible study I am doing on holiness. Or maybe it’s due to the fact that I’m getting older. Perhaps it is because I have managed to prune some of the major chaos out of my life, making it much easier for me to find God.  The more ’static’ I have in my daily world, the harder it is for me to hear God’s voice.  I have a lot less ’static’ than I used to.

I don’t mean I’m not busy.  I am as busy as ever, if not more so.  But when I am busy with things that serve God, those things don’t tend to stress me out and distract me from Him.  I have found not only the time, but the desire to read the daily readings, to meditate on the writings of the Saints and the Early Church Fathers.  Without fail, those things give me energy and enthusiasm for not only God and my Faith, but my daily life. I am empowered with repentance, the only prerequisite for receiving that mercy and forgiveness.

We had a really big thunderstorm tonight. While it was still raining, and the sun was just barely beginning to glow behind the clouds, the most magnificent rainbow I’ve ever seen emerged across the entire sky! It was so big I could not capture all of it in one photograph! But I tried. I ran outside, in the cold and blustery rain, and stood out there like a crazy person pointing my camera into the sky. It was truly the most beautiful and bright rainbow I’ve ever seen!

And there are a couple of analogies I’d like to make here. First, I would have never seen it if my friend, Lisa, hadn’t called me to tell me about it. Sometimes, I would completely miss God if it wasn’t for my friends helping me out. Second, the storm was not completely over. It was still raining, the wind was still blowing. But at the sight of that glorious rainbow, the storm was forgotten, and nothing else mattered. God was in the storm.

I do not believe it is an accident that God placed His first rainbow in the sky as a promise to us. Every time I see a rainbow, I think of God, and of how much He loves all of us. I am reminded that He is even more glorious and magnificent than any rainbow, and that it is a symbol of His faithfulness. The storm does not have to be over before we find God. Even in the storm, that rainbow outshone everything around it. And isn’t that just like God?

I have written poetry for myself for most of my life, and it has always amazed me when somebody liked anything I’ve written, so I have to say that I am incredibly honored that Rodger Sellers, Pastor of the Portico Presbyterian Church over in Charlotte not only found and read the poem I wrote, “into your way of peace“, but he liked it so much that he posted it in his Lenten Blog!  Wow.

I have read some of the most recent posts on that Lenten Blog, and I really like what I’ve read!  I very highly recommend the post “A Negative Times A Negative Equals A Positive?“.  It is excellent, and makes such a powerful point about the nature of repentance.