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Who doesn’t love a good history story, Catholic Pilgrims?
This is the church of St. Mary of Sorrows in Fairfax Station, Virginia. It has a very interesting story.
As you probably know, early on, Virginia was not friendly to Catholics, consequently, there weren’t a ton of Catholics to be found. But, in northern Virginia, two families petitioned the Diocese of Richmond to use some land for a Catholic cemetery. They were granted their request.
Soon, a railroad was being built between DC and Orange, Virginia. Catholic Irish workers were working on it and built Fairfax Station, a depot linking the two cities. In their off time, they built this church on the grounds where the cemetery was located.
Pretty much right after it was built, the Civil War broke out. Wounded soldiers from the Battle of Bull Run (aka, The Battle of Manassas) were brought to Fairfax Station to await a train that could take them to the hospitals in DC and Alexandria. But, there were so many, they couldn’t be transported fast enough and this church became a field hospital because of its close proximity to the depot. It’s just down the road.
Thousands of wounded were laid out on the ground, tended to by one surgeon. That’s when an “angel” showed up. Clara Barton came to offer her services as a volunteer nurse. Others came with her and she helped to treat and comfort the wounded and dying.
This experience led Clara Barton to found the American Red Cross. There is a plaque on the outside wall of this church recognizing her.
The original pews were used as firewood while tending to the soldiers and so, after the war, the church had no pews. Later, President Ulysses S. Grant came through and saw that the church had no pews, inquired as to why, and once he learned why, he ordered that the government buy the church new pews, which are still there today.
I’ll tell you another story about this church next week.
If ever in the DC area, I’d recommend a stop here to visit. There was a new church built to accommodate a larger congregation. The two churches with the same name are about two miles apart, so be sure to find the older one on the map.
Have a great day and live the Faith boldly and travel well!
Because I've prepared numerous episodes for my podcast ahead of time, I've already read through Book Two of St. Augustine's "Confessions." This is where we get the famous pear-stealing story. In his thoughts about it, St. Augustine shares that he didn't steal because he really wanted the pears. The pears were inconsequential. He then wonders if he liked the actual crime of stealing OR did he like going along with his accomplices and being part of the gang? I was telling my husband about this at dinner and said, "There are three things to think about with any sin. 1. Do you like the actual tangible thing? Like, are you stealing because you want, say, a gold watch? 2. Do you like the act of the sin itself? Like watching pornography. 3. Do you sin because of the social acceptance it gives you? You go along just because you lack courage to say no?" Now, it could be just one of these things that leads us to sin or it could be a combo. My husband thought for a minute and said, "And with those three things, you are seeking one of the four reasons St. Thomas Aquinas' says we go after happiness--wealth, power, pleasure, honor. If you never think about why you are doing something sinful--to gain wealth, power, pleasure, or honor--and you never look at the three aspects of the sin--the thing you want, the sin itself, or the social acceptance--you will find it very hard to stop committing that sin. What I fiind most interesting about St. Augustine's pear story is that he didn't care about the pears, he didn't really revel in stealing, but mostly just wanted to fit in with the crowd. I was watching a video yesterday from Bishop Barron and he said, "With hot button topics--abortion, euthanasia, etc--Catholics track pretty much in line with the secular culture." Meaning, we don't look any different. We just blend right in, striking no real difference in how we live or believe. I believe this is because too many desire honor. We want to be accepted and liked and, so, lack the courage to swim against the stream. That is why I'm always saying that we must live the Faith boldly and travel well, Catholic Pilgrims. Have a blessed Monday.
Continue ReadingRight around Christmas, I made a post about how moved I was seeing everyone get to their knees right before the Consecration. I wrote about how beautiful it is that we kneel to worship Our Lord. Some snark shark showed up with an attempted put down telling me that he thought my worship would actually lead to me saying that I was going out to serve in a soup kitchen. To which I responded back, "I was at Mass worshipping God. Here in this post, I was focused on our worship of God. For me, it's a both/and. I can worship God and serve people." He said, "God doesn't need worship, why do you think he came as bread?" I commented, "God may not need our worship, but we need to worship Him. Are you seriously arguing that we shouldn't worship Our Lord? Your argument doesn't make any sense anyway. He didn't come as bread, He came as a baby--fully human, fully Divine." It is true that God doesn't need our worship, but we were created to worship Him. Not because He is some overbearing, narcissistic tyrant that needs to be adored, but because without right worship of God, we will worship something else--usually ourselves. Never has this played out well for anybody. I read today, "The Magi reveal that our search for truth leads to worship." When we find God and recognize Him as the reason for everything, as the source of all truth, there is only one response--worship. May our search for God lead us to worship Him, as is just. And may that worship lead us to be changed and never go back to our old ways. Have a blessed Epiphany, Catholic Pilgrims. *Painting is Adoration of the Magi by Rubens. 1609-1629
Continue Reading“Bethlehem is the prelude to Calvary. We may not merely stand adoring at the crib; we must also follow Christ to the cross.” Many moons ago, my friend from college who became an atheist was publicly asking questions about Christianity on her Facebook page. They were snarky and rude. Since, I’m not one to let a debate go by, I started answering her questions. You know how it goes: You answer a question, they don’t acknowledge the answer, but instead throw out another red herring. I stuck in there and continued to answer the rather softball questions. Pretty soon, a horde of angry atheists descended on me and attempted to do an online “stoning.” Not a single one could counter my arguments, but the truth of those arguments enraged them. Today, we look at the life of St. Stephen, the first martyr. He was debating people and they couldn’t handle the truth and wisdom of his words given to him by the Holy Spirit. They became “infuriated” and just wanted to silence him through death. As faithful Catholics, we must know that attacks will come our way. People will lash out at us over the truth of the Gospel. We must pray for the grace to take the literal and figurative blows, Catholic Pilgrims. Have a blessed Friday. St. Stephen, pray for us! *St. Stephen’s Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Istanbul.
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