"The Age of Mary": Ultimate Catholic Unit Study for Teens

Today commemorates the 162nd anniversary of Our Lady of LaSalette,"The Madonna in Tears," a perfect day to again mention "The Age of Mary" Catholic, Internet-Based Study Guides. Designed for high school students, "The Age of Mary" is parent-adaptable for parents of good readers at the "middle" school age level. Not just "kids' stuff," The Age of Mary is also perfect for adults - including converts, teachers and Marian catechists - who want to learn more about the Virgin Mary and also understand the reason for Our Lady's "modern-age" appearances. The Guides are a series of 'electronic' Guides - integrating Religion, History/Geography, Language Arts (Literature & Composition), and Science into one "beautiful" theme.

Catholic and convenient! Simply open "The Age of Mary" digital Guides and enjoy your Catholic studies. Using the Lesson Ideas section, you or your students will visit webpages I've personally screened, read online articles and books, use a suggested list of Catholic "living books," take virtual tours keyed to the currrent study - and accomplish all lessons using the home computer!

"The Age of Mary" is the ultimate CATHOLIC UNIT STUDY, using a central theme of Church-approved Marian apparitions that began in 1830. As the Church doctrine teaches, "Religion must permeate the curriculum" and that is exactly what "The Age of Mary" does. In addition, this unique, one year curriculum helps you bring yourself and your family closer "TO JESUS through MARY!"

These specially-priced electronic Guides allows users to aquire a one year, all-Catholic curriculum (36 weeks), with no extra purchases required for the core subjects (except higher math).

Within 24 hours of receiving your payment at our ONLINE ORDER page, you''ll receive the first "Age of Mary" Guide by EMAIL. The others will be delivered at subsequent intervals with instructions on where and how to acquire each downloadable, WINDOWS ONLY ebook.

The first Guide is entitled "Our Lady of Paris and the Medal of the Immaculate Conception," featuring a special focus on world events that led to the 1830 visions and messages of the Virgin, in which She gave "the Miraculous Medal" to the world. The time to complete this first Guide is a minimum of 9-10 weeks.

Students will learn the philosophy (and the philosophers) behind the French Revolution, the Sacred Heart's request to the King of France and the Nine First Fridays, and the tragic fates of King Louis, Queen Marie Antoinette and their children.

Yet the thrust remains "True Devotion" (to Jesus through Mary) via the Message of Our Lady of Paris, the virtuous life of St. Catherine Laboure, and the writings of St. Alphonsus de Liguori and St. Louis Marie de Montfort. This first Guide (like those that follow) includes a "Bonus List" of Catholic living books you may wish to purchase elsewhere, Lesson Ideas with PRE-SCREENED links to website pages for the study of Religion, History, Geography, Literature and Science.


"Our Lady of LaSalette" combines the second and third Guides in one expansive and colorful Windows-only ebook - and includes 20 weeks of Lesson Ideas (that is one whole semester!). The singular vision of LaSalette illustrated how our personal lives either conform to or wound the Mystical Body of Christ and displays the gravity of breaking the First Two Commandments. Study what happened (and why it happened) in France and Ireland, including the devastating Potato Famine, as well as historical figures. This Guide also includes the apparition which gave the world the Green Scapular, the discovery of St. Louis de Montfort's lost manuscript (True Devotion), Our Lord's messages to St. Marie de St. Pierre, and more - seamlessly interweaving Religion, History, Geography, Poetry, and Science.

The last Guide for the first year (scheduled for release in the summer of 2009) focuses on "Our Lady of Lourdes," and also includes information on Our Lady of Pontmain, Pellevoisin, and Knock.

For another overview of "The Age of Mary" and your convenience, please see: http://www.keepingitcatholic.org.order.html

For a detailed preview, kindly start here: http://www.keepingitcatholic.org/ageofmary_preview1.html

To Jesus through Mary!

Marianna Bartold

We're Keeping It Catholic on the Net!

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"One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular,

I shall save the world."

~ Our Lady to Blessed Alan de la Roche

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Lady of Courtesy and Amiability

Our Lady has a solution for this one! Have you ever greeted someone, only to find yourself treated in a discourteous manner? What used to be "common courtesy" is appallingly lacking today. But no matter, for as St. John of the Cross taught, “It is great wisdom to know how to be silent and to look at neither the remarks, nor the deeds, nor the lives of others.” Instead, let's be concerned about how we behave.

For example, when in a situation when speaking aloud would be remiss (as when in church), a gentle smile and a brief nod of the head acknowledges the presence of those in our vicinity. When passing closely by a stranger in a store, one should say, "Excuse me" (and so should the stranger).

Should someone (family, friend or acquaintance) open a door for us, we should gratefully say "Thank you" instead of sailing through the entrance with nary an acknowledgement of the favor granted us. If someone wishes to speak with us and we truly do not have time, we should sincerely express our regrets with a sympathetic tone. Even further, we might ask the individual what time would be best for us to catch up with them? The little niceties go a long way, but how revealing is the interior life of those who lack them.

Yet there is someone who is all courtesy and amiability, especially when we remember to greet Her first. And well we should, for She truly is Our Lady. This most gracious Lady will teach us to be (or become even more) considerate of others.

So here is a lovely practice for the good of our souls: Each time we pass any likeness of Our Lady, simply bow our heads in respect and quietly say "Hail Mary!"

"You must know that when you ‘hail’ Mary, she immediately greets you! Don’t think that she is one of those rude people, of whom there are so many. On the contrary, she is utterly courteous and pleasant. If you greet her, she will answer you right away and converse with you!"
~St. Bernardine of Siena

Catholic Homeschooling: While the Eyes of the Great are Elsewhere

At the start of the Catholic homeschooling year, we may start with high expectations or we may begin anew with another sense - one of "Oh, my, it starts again!" We may have begun the 'homeschooling journey' with a hobbit-like thought of "Great! Where are we going?" or we may have understood from the very beginning the seriousness of the mission. After living, parenting and homeschooling for many years, we know that (for better or worse) our circumstances and outlooks may differ, and our interior or physical strengths may alter, but the Truth, which is the reason for the journey, never changes.

Objective truth is not a matter of what we may 'believe," by which I do not only mean "assent of the intellect." Rather I refer to that false but popular definition that belief is a matter of opinion, a tenacious clinging to one's own ideas. As St. Thomas wrote in explaining what objectivity means in relation to truth, "It is what it is." That is why we are taught that the meaning of life is to KNOW (not just believe) God, love God, and serve God. But if we do not yet know such things as we ought, we shall if we trust and give our assent to faith.

Catholic home life and Catholic home education is really about "knowing" God. It is about loving and serving God. Always keeping in mind that Our Lord, Jesus Christ, IS the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE is what keeps us to our moorings. Our Lord's dogmas and doctrines are deposited in His Church via Divine Revelation. For all Catholic parents (homeschooling or not), Our Lord's doctrines on marriage and education are found within the Church - and they exist to guide us on the straight way. We need not 'seek' the path of Truth; we already possess it. We only need follow it!

As we begin the journey for the first time, or start it anew, it cannot be denied that September, the month of Our Lady's Sorrows, is another chance in which to ponder the beauties of the Faith and grace. Thus it is a perfect time to recall what led each of us to Catholic home education. The years pass by and circumstances are constantly changing, sometimes to our liking but more often not. What matters is our charity and perseverance.

Our answers will prove how matters change from year to year, and yet - come what may - the noble task of Catholic education continues in our homes. For example:

1. Who are we formally teaching this year? The whole kit and caboodle of our blessings or some of them? An eldest child who has reached grade school age? Are the older children at an outside school while some of the younger children at home or visa versa? Are any of us assisting in the Catholic home education of grandchildren? Is this our first year of homeschooling? Are we nervous, a bit trepiditious, afraid of failing? Is this our twentieth year of homeschooling? Are we getting a bit lackadaiscal about the whole process? Are we seeing the first fledglings try their wings? Have some already left the nest? How are we interiorly dealing with all the changes?

To that end, let's consider a few other matters (things which apply not only to the lives of Catholic homeschoolers; these questions might be slightly revised to apply to our lives as Catholics. In other words, 'what' we are really doing with our time, what books or newspapers do we we read, etc.):

2. What materials are we using? Old favorites? What is new? Are we not amazed at the times spontaneous discussions arise, either related to (or a tangent of) the lesson plans? Was there a problem we recognized last year, one that we are attempting to resolve this year?

3. When do we homeschool? All day? Half a day? In-between other things that seem to keep interupting? Five days a week, or four days a week, with Fridays as a 'reward' day if tests are done well that morning? And then there is the same question as asked before in regard to materials: Was there a scheduling problem last year that we are now attempting to rectify?

4. Above all, WHY do we homeschool? Have we ever deeply thought of the answer to that question? Have we ever written it down, to remind ourselves of it on the more trying days? Do we often discuss those reasons with our spouses and our children? Do we KNOW the good that Catholic home education can bring to the whole family - all it needs, like everything else in regard to God's Will, is our free will cooperation.

5. Finally, how we answer the previous questions are tied to this last question: HOW do we homeschool? Do we make honest attempts to keep fast to the Church's doctrine on education? Do we grasp "the importance of religious instruction"? (1) Have we accepted the Church's perennial truth that dogma and doctrine are not subject to personal interpretation but must be understood in the light of Divine Revelation, which is found in Tradition and Scripture? For the "sacred dogmas must be perpetually maintained, which Holy Mother Church has once declared; and there must never be a recession from that meaning under the pretext of a deeper understanding." (2)

Personal interpretation of doctrine is a serious error issuing from an over-confidence in the individual intellect. For though we accept faith through the intellect, the truth remains: "Intellect is a guide, though, that, if it lack its companion light, the knowledge of divine things, will be only an instance of the blind leading the blind so that both will fall into the pit." (3) In a word, the intellect must be illuminated with the Church's scholastic philosophy, for knowledge is only the beginning of wisdom. And wisdom is only one of many virtues which we must practice.

On the other hand, Catholic parents who, for whatever reasons, lack confidence in their own training, their virtues (especially patience!), or perceive any other lacks which may hinder their ability to teach the truth of Religion - the Religion which must permeate the curriculum (4) - may take solace in this explanation to the universal Church on teaching Christian doctrine:

"No matter what natural facility a person may have in ideas and language, let him always remember that he will never be able to teach Christian doctrine to children or to adults without first giving himself to very careful study and preparation. They are mistaken who think that because of inexperience and lack of training of the people the work of catechizing can be performed in a slipshod fashion. On the contrary, the less educated the hearers, the more zeal and diligence must be used to adapt the sublime truths to their untrained minds; these truths, indeed, far surpass the natural understanding of the people, yet must be known by all - the uneducated and the cultured - in order that they may arrive at eternal happiness." (5)

The Church's encyclical on teaching Christian doctrine, addressed to the patriarchs, primates, bishops, archbishops and other ordinaries in peace and communion with the Apostolic See, contained a reminder to the hierarchy of the Church's duty to Her members. Those words are a great comfort to those of us living in this age permeated with modernism, for the sublime truths exist and always will. Still, it is difficult to accomplish the mission without the necessary cooperation, zeal, and diligence of all the pastors.

"Yet hope remains while the company is true," said Lady Galadriel as she looked upon the ever-faithful Samwise. Each faithful Catholic family is a 'little company' (a Fellowship, as it were) of the Church Militant, and so we take upon ourselves the full responsibility of our children's education, even as the shadows of Mordor lengthen. We do so with little help from those from whom we should expect it, but we will find such help in a tiny band of faithful priests and laypeople (and with many graces from God, if only we remember to ask for them).
We parents may rest assured that the 'careful study and preparation" necessary to teach Christian doctrine (and all other 'subjects') will be ours as we teach our children. For as Catholics, we are so very akin to the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings, who did not know the faith and fortitude that was already in them, who did not realize they would overcome their fears, who did not expect to be separated from good and faithful kin and friends, who did not know in what forms would they face many terrible dangers to body and soul. Neither did they know they would receive refuge in Rivendell and Lothlorien, that they would be given "gifts of grace," or find unexpected help and friends along the way. Like the task of the Fellowship, our "homeschooling journey" is an important chapter - not only in our own story but also of "the story" of the world, even when our part is over.

All that we do and learn on that journey is what people mean when they speak about "the beauties of Catholic homeschooling." Still, there are days in which it seems we take this task upon ourselves all alone, thinking ourselves too small to do what must be done. But remember the insightful words of Lord Elrond, gifted with foresight yet echoing what has always been true: "Small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."

"ORA et LABORA" (Pray and work) means prayer and sacrifice. Those actions sum up the lives of all faithful Catholics, including Catholic homeschooling families!

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Footnotes
1. Pope St. Pius X, Acerbo Nimis (On Teaching Christine Doctrine, 1905): para. 17
2. Vatican Council 1, can. 3
3. Pope St. Pius X, op. cit., para. 3
4. Pope Leo XIII, Militantis Ecclesiae (On St. Peter Canisius, 1897): para. 18
5. Pope St. Pius, para. 26

Our Lady's Nativity: The Lesson to be Learned

On this Feast of Our Lady's Nativity, Catholics world-wide recall the truth about the Virgin Mary on the day of her birth, "the day for which the prophets sighed and for which the patriarchs prayed for hundreds of years." [1] With thankful awe to the Mercy of God, we think of the birth of the Immaculate Conception (which was not an event, but is a person - Our Lady Mary). Our Lady is the only human soul adorned with the grace of God from the very first moment of her existence in her
mother's womb. That the Virgin Mary was immaculately conceived, "in view of her future merits and future dignity" [2] in becoming the Mother of God, is a doctrine - now a defined dogma - of the Church, a truth imparted by God in Divine Revelation to His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Here is one of God's great mysteries, for this Lady would one day acquiese to the humble Bernadette's thrice-made request for Her name by first lifting Her eyes to Heaven, placing Her hands together as if in prayer, and then responding, "I am the Immaculate Conception." These words of the Mother of God in Her glory reinforce the truth that conception is not an 'event' - but that conception is a human life, body and soul. How much everything about Our Lady teaches us!

"She was born free from Original Sin and, further, during her entire life she never committed even the slightest sin. She received more graces than anyone else who ever lived and she accepted and corresponded to them all." (3)

At the Annunciation, the young Virgin Mary was already "full of grace," for so did the angel address her, "Hail, Full of Grace! The Lord is with thee." (4) So the Angel Gabriel spoke to the humble Immaculate One for, by his words, God's messenger revealed the name by which the Father called her: "Full of Grace."

The Virgin Mary is "the woman" foretold by God in Genesis 3:15; it was her "Fiat!" to God's Will which made possible the Incarnation of the God-Man, Our Savior. It is only fitting that She who was to give the world the Savior, the maiden Who would be His Mater et Magistra, the Woman to whom the Son of God would subject Himself in perfect charity and obedience, must be like Him, "full of grace." Her words to the Angel Gabriel, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word" manifested Her free-will consent to God's Will...(5)

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,

(and we saw his glory, the glory as it were

of the only begotten of the Father,)

full of grace and truth." (6)

At the moment of the Incarnation, the Virgin Mother became Theotokos (the Mother of God); at that moment, the second Eve became the spiritual mother of all the living. For that moment was Mary was conceived without sin and, through Her own merits, sanctifying graces only increased in Her Immaculate Soul throughout Her entire life. It was for the Birth, Life and Passion of the Savior, Who offers Redemption to each soul born into the world, that the Perpetual Virgin was created, born, lived and passed through this world as the Immaculate One.

"The great lesson to be learned from the birth of Our Lady, [a birth] without any external grandeur, is the importance of the possession of God's grace....The birth of Mary brings to us the meaning of the interior life. Our external works are only of value in proportion to the state of grace in our souls...to our union with God. This is why the actions of some of the saints who never appeared in public but lived in the cloister or away from the tumult of the world were raised up to great heights of holiness. This arose from their interior life or their eagerness to increase the state of Sanctifying Grace in their souls. Mary led the interior life in all its activity and all its beauty. She is really the model for all those who wish to acquire sanctity. Mary increased the state of Sanctifying Grace by her great purity of intention. Her whole life was spent in forgetfulness of self and in doing God's Will. No child of Adam ever thought less of herself than Mary. Her thoughts were constantly occupied with God and she only thought of how she could give glory to God." (7)

"We can imitate Mary here at least by saying frequent aspirations and by offering each little action or each little sacrifice in union with the works and sufferings of Jesus and Mary for the salvation of souls. As a preparation for this feast, let us offer our Holy Communion that we may obtain that purity of intention and that zeal for souls that characterized the whole life of Mary. If we consecrate to this tender Virgin our purity of soul, she will preserve it for us, and if we ask her to protect us from all the snares of the devil, she will shield us with her mantle. May this sweet Mother be more loved in the years to come, and she will then bring all her children to the feet of Jesus." (8)

On this day commemorating Our Lady's Nativity, may we remember the Sweet Name of Mary, and all that it means, as expressed in the lovely poem below:

"The Names of Our Lady"

by Adelaide A. Proctor

Through the wide world thy children raise

Their prayers, and still we see

Calm are the nights and bright the days

Of those who trust in thee.

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Around thy starry crown are wreathed

So many names divine;

Which is the dearest to my heart,

And the most worthy thine?

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Star of the Sea! we kneel and pray

When tempests raise their voice;

Star of the Sea! the haven reached,

We call thee and rejoice.

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Help of the Christian! in our need

Thy might aid we claim;

If we are faint and weary, then

We trust in that dear name.

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Our Lady of the Rosary!

What name can be so sweet

As what we call thee when we place

Our chaplet at thy feet.

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Bright Queen of Heaven! when we are sad,

Best solace of our pains;

It tells us of the badge we wear,

To live and die thine own.

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Our Lady dear of Victories!

We see our faith oppressed,

And, praying for our erring land,

We love that name the best.

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Refuge of Sinners! many a soul,

By guilt cast down, and sin,

Has learned through this dear name of thine

Pardon and peace to win.

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Health of the Sick! when anxious hearts

Watch by the sufferer's bed,

On this sweet name of thine we lean,

Consoled and comforted.

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Mother of Sorrows! many a heart

Half-broken by despair

Has laid its burden by the cross

And found a mother there.

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Queen of all Saints! the Church appeals

For her loved dead to thee;

She knows they wait in patient pain

A bright eternity.

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Fair Queen of Virgins! thy pure band

The lilies round thy throne,

Love the dear title, which they bear,

Most that it is thine own.

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True Queen of Martyrs! if we shrink

From want, or pain, or woe,

We think of the sharp sword that pierced

Thy heart, and call thee so.

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Mary! the dearest name of all,

The holiest and the best;

The first low word that Jesus lisped

Laid on His mother's breast.

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Mary! the name that Gabriel spoke,

The name that conquers hell;

Mary! the name that through high heaven

The angels love so well.

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Mary! our comfort and our hope,

-O, may that word be given

To be the last we sigh on earth,

The first we breathe in heaven. (9)

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Footnotes
(1) Fr. H. O'Laverty, The Mother of God and Her Glorious Feasts (Rockford, IL: Tan Books and Publishers, 1977. Originally published between 1908-1915 under the title The Mother of God's Glorious Feasts): p.10
(2) Ibid.
(3) Ibid., p. ix
(4) Lk 1:28
(5) Lk 1:38
(6) Jn 1:14
(7) O'Laverty, op. cit, pp.11-13
(8) Ibid. p. 14
(9) "The Names of Our Lady" by Adelaide A. Proctor, The Art and Literature Reader (Book IV), Copyright 1904.

Discounts! "The Age of Mary" and "The Return of the King"

For a limited time, educators all over the world can receive discounts on both "The Age of Mary" and "The Return of the King" electronic Catholic Study Guides (for Windows users ONLY). Designed for Catholic high school students, these electronic Guides are perfect for homeschooling parents and students, catechetists, and English/Literature teachers!

"The Age of Mary" discount (50% OFF) ends this Friday, Sept. 12, 2008. Featuring a full-color electronic syllabi with graphics & interactive link, it is designed for grades 9 and up. You choose for which grade you wish to use it! The first "Age of Mary" Guide is quickly available via email; the remaining Guides will be released on a quarterly basis via downloadable Windows-ONLY Ebook.

Due to popular request, KIC is again offering The Return of the King Catholic Study Guide - with NEW additions to the original 2004 paper version! Soon to be released in a Windows-ONLY Ebook format, this is a great time to take advantage of the PRE-ORDER Discount!

Order now in time for its holiday-release and save $5! The colorful, unique, downloadable "Return of the King" Guide" will open on your desktop (just like The Keepsake Collection), include interactive SCREENED Links (just like The Age of Mary), and provide a compelling Catholic study of the religious elements and symbolism in Tolkien's epic historical romance. (Not only that, it allows for a relaxing 'breath of fresh air' during the school year, so that you may all enjoy a HOLY Advent, Nativity of Our Lord, and post-Christmas season!)

Please see the ORDER page for an explanatory overview of The Return of the King.

And please don't forget that the 50% discount on "The Age of Mary" ends THIS Friday, Sept. 12! To preview "The Age of Mary" Catholic Study Guides, kindly start here.

Fatima: Just a Note on New Articles

UPDATE! My article, Fatima and the Great Et Cetera: Traces of the Third Secret Message, first published in the July 2008 issue of Catholic Family News (CFN), was only this morning posted here on Keeping It Catholic - The Blog! You'll find, however, that it's posted under the date of Sunday, July 13, 2008 to keep it "chronologically correct"! (Just scroll down 2 posts and there it is!)

Incidentally, my next article "Our Lady of Akita and the Third Secret of Fatima" will appear in the September 2008 issue of CFN (which will likely start arriving in mail boxes within a week from today). I'll also post it here shortly thereafter.


So please - do read Fatima and the Great Et Cetera (below) but please don't forget to bookmark this blog and visit again soon!:)

The Rosary - The Answer to All Problems

Today, August 13th, is most beautifully called by our Eastern Rite brothers and sisters "The Dormition of Mary" (The "Falling Asleep" of Mary). The Church commemorates it as the day upon which Our Lady ended the course of her earthly life. In anticipation of August 15th (The Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin), may we consider these consoling words about the Rosary, uttered by the last surviving Fatima visionary:

"The Most Holy Virgin, in these last times in which we live, has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, temporal or especially spiritual, in the personal lives of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world or of religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary."

"There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the HOLY ROSARY. With the Holy Rosary, we will save ourselves. We will sanctify ourselves. We will console Our Lord and obtain the salvation of many souls."

~Sr. Lucia to Father Fuentes, December 1957